Turnabout Zitraine
by Jess-a-men
Summary: Klavier Gavin is in the Hospital! The former Rockstar has been poisoned… but why and by whom? Soon enough, investigations uncover what may be the most convoluted murder plan in the world, where pawn follows pawn and trick follows trick. However, there is no clue as to who's behind it all... or is there?
1. Chapter 1

January 02, 9:43 AM

Gavin Law Offices

Main Office

#

Klavier groaned as he dug through the shelves, searching for some stupid outdated report on a stupid case his stupid brother had been involved with five years ago. All he wanted was some background information on a witness, damn it, was that really so hard?! God, he hated having to come here.

...

Of course, he could have sent detective Skye to get the file for him. He was almost certain that she would have done it, if only to get away from him for a while. Heaven knew why that Fräulein disliked him so very much...

Still, she would have done this for him, sparing him the pain of visiting his brother's old office. So, why _was_ he here? Not because of an old report, that was for sure. There had to be a reason, a good reason for why he had bothered...

His fingers touched something _furry_ behind the files and he let out an decidedly unmanly shriek as he jumped backwards, tearing most of the files down with him and revealing an enourmous _spider_ clinging to the wall. Seeing it, he screamed again, even louder. The spider looked at him, then scurried away and hid under a file cabinet. Kalvier stared at the dark space it had disappeared into, a weak whimper escaping his throat. There were goosebumps on his skin and his back suddenly felt extremely exposed; were there more spiders in this room?!

A quick glance around. No, none he could see. Now was the spider still there?! Or had it hid somewhere else?!

He didn't care that it was embarassing for an adult rock star to be so scared of spiders. He just hated them. There was a vague memorie of his childhood, of catching grasshoppers in the garden until one day, he'd closed his hands around a spider by accident and then the damn thing had bit him, too. Oh, he'd screamed and yelled until Kristoph had come running to comfort him, soothing the aching finger with cold gel and covering it with a band-aid. But still, his finger had swollen strongly and in the end, he'd had to see a doctor. It hadn't been his first encounter with a spider, but it had definitely been the most painful one.

Klavier stared down at the files that were covering him, only now starting to realize their existence. Somewhere between his legs, he found the file he'd been searching for, grabbed it and got up as fast as he could. Out of here, now! He'd send someone later to clean the mess he'd made... and to throw out that eight-legged monster lurking underneath the file cabinet! This place needed a broom, a feather duster, a vacuum cleaner... and maybe a few hundred bottles of insect spray.

He turned to leave, but something caught his eye. A sparkle of silver on the desk.

Oh.

Yes.

 _That._

Reaching out, he picked the object up. A small bottle of Ariadoney clear nail polish.

Kristoph had always kept a spare in his desk and Klavier had always - always - made fun of it. After all, who kept an bottle of emergency nail polish in his desk?

Nowadays, though...

He'd first found it shortly after Kristoph had been accused of murdering Shadi Smith or rather, Zak Gramarye. Then, after the trial of Vera Misham...

His fingers moved on their own, opening the bottle. It was still full, Klavier never used it. It was Kristoph's, after all, and besides, Klavier had never painted his nails.

Well, there had been that one incident after the Gavinner's second big concert but that hadn't been voluntary and besides, candle wax hardly counted as nail polish. He still had the burn scars.

 _God_ , that had been stupid.

Holding the open bottle, just holding it. He didn't need to use it. Something touched his foot, something that was moving across the floor, something that had come from underneath the file cabinet. That was a bad thing, wasn't it? He'd been trying to avoid that, because...

Because?

Did Kristoph ever feel like that when painting his nails? All dizzy and confused and full of memories? Klavier doubted it. His legs were tired so he sat down behind his brother's desk, placing his head on it's surface right next to the open bottle.

The dusty wood against his cheek reminded him of something, too. What was it again? Oh yes, the old couch table. Kristoph had spend every evening sitting there, reading classic literature and old case files... always drinking coffee.

And Klavier had loved the smell of coffee, had been so eager to sample it, too, but he'd been to young for it. Then, one day, while Kristoph was completely absorbed in his book, Klavier had just grabbed the cup and had taken a big sip.

Only to then spit everything into his sleeve in disgust while Kristoph laughed, not the deranged, hysterical laugh of a man being exposed as a cruel, r-remorseless... e-emotionless... k... killer...

No, it had been the pure, geniue laugher of a man delighted at his little brother's foolish antics. Six years later, they had finally shared a cup of coffee.

Klavier still didn't like it very much.

He giggled, a honest-to-god giggle, and turned the bottle between his fingers. So dumb... so insanely dumb! But then again, hadn't most of his childhood been... dumb? Ah, he'd been an incredibly stupid child...

Heh, heh... heh...

One _had_ to be stupid to trust a killer...

Kristoph was watching him from a prison far, far away. Klavier could feel his brother's judgemental gaze resting on his shoulders, pressing him down and making him desperate for communication. Not raising his head, he reached into his pocket and found his cell phone. Talking to someone, anyone. Maybe one of his former bandmates. Or Mr. Wright, Athena Cykes. Trucy Wright. Apo... No. Not Apollo.

A prosector. Edgeworth, Blackquill. A prosecutor? Why a prosecutor of all people?!

Yeah, a prosecutor. Ugh, how was his name? Panne? Pine? Pein? That guy was a prosecutor, right?

...Right?

Nah, that wasn't an opinion. What other prosecutors (seriously though, why a prosecutor?) were there? There was that fearsome german woman Mr. Edgeworth had introduced him to, but he didn't have her number. Who else?

Oh. Yes. _Of course_...

Grinning cheerfully, Klavier tapped the rythmn of "My Boyfriend is the Prosecution's Witness" with his fist as he typed a quick message to Sebastian.

He still hadn't closed the bottle of nail polish, hadn't picked up the files strewn all over the floor.

The spider crawled back to it's home on the shelf. He didn't even notice.

#

 _Klavier Gavin, 9:46: Heeeeeeeey._

 _Klavier Gavin, 9:47: Herr Erster! :)_

 _Sebastian, 9:56: Mr Gavin, are you drunk?_

 _Klavier Gavin, 9:57: Nooooooooooo!_

 _Klavier Gavin, 9:57: Do you want to talk, Herr Erster?_

 _Sebastian, 9:58: I'm in the middle of a trial._

 _Klavier Gavin, 9:58: :(_

 _Klavier Gavin, 9:58: :( :( :(_

 _Klavier Gavin, 9:59: :( :( :( :( :(_

 _Sebastian, 9:59: Stop this nonsense?!_

 _Klavier Gavin, 10:00: I want to talk to you Herr Ertrer_

 _Klavier Gavin, 10:00: Erster_

 _Sebastian, 10:01: You ARE drunk!_

 _Klavier Gavin, 10:01: Talk to me!_

 _Sebastian, 10:02: Recess is almost over, so no. If you really want to talk, I could come to your office once the trial is over?_

 _Klavier Gavin, 10:02: You are an Engel. See you there, then! :)_

 _#_

January 02, 10:03 AM

District Court

Defendant Lobby No. 1

#

The ticking of the clock filled the defendant lobby where Apollo and Phoenix sat in silence, Apollo looking through the evidence and Phoenix... wondering, and being a little annoyed.

It was just so... so _Edgeworth_ , too. No one else would have just... _not_ _mentioned_ something like this for so many years, on the basis that is wasn't important. Okay, so maybe there really had never been any reason for Phoenix to meet this guy, and maybe he really had been abroad for the past few years. But still, would it have killed him to mention that he had a _protege_?!

Of course, Phoenix could somewhat understand. Had he known, he'd have bombarded Edgeworth with questions. But still, to be greeted with it out of the blue, to learn that that young prosector was, in fact, the protege of Miles Edgeworth... he was just glad he wasn't the defense today, else he would have stood there behind his bench with his mouth open.

He threw a look over at Apollo, who was completely immersed in his evidence. Justified, after all it was Apollo who was standing in court today, but it still irked Phoenix how he seemed completely uninterested in his opponent. Didn't he realize how incredibly insane this all was?

Sebastian and Apollo were up against each other in this fairly simple murder case, with Edgeworth and Phoenix staying in the audience for once. The case seemed clear-cut. A teenager was accused of murdering his stepmother. His fingerprints had been found on a knife thought to be the murder weapon, and there had been bad blood between the two of them. Still, Apollo belived in his innocence and was currently trying to come up with an alternative version of events.

Through the thin walls of the lobby, he could hear someone yelling and couldn't help but grin. Apollo and Sebastian had talked a bit earlier and Apollo had 'teached' Sebastian his rather unique way of calming down. Poor Edgeworth was going to need a pair of earplugs soon.

Maybe Phoenix would be up against Sebastian one day. Who knew? He wouldn't mind; the prosecutor had a kind heart and a sharp mind, although he was prone to bursting into tears. The first time that had happened, Phoenix had belived them to be crocodile tears... fake, to get sympathy from the judge. But no, those tears were geniue.

Of course, that wasn't his only quirk. There was also the fact that he called himself "Mr. Sebastian", even in the courtroom... Phoenix had yet to hear his last name. He also carried a baton around for some reason. Seriously, what was up with _that_?!

At that moment, a bailiff entered the room, calling the defense back into the courtroom.

Apollo left and Phoenix followed him, finding his seat in the audience and sitting down. It felt rather weird and he had the odd feeling that he was in the wrong place.

The trial continued and quickly went into the completely wrong direction as the detective, a small, nervous woman, was called as a witness yet again. Apollo looked back over his shoulder at Phoenix and Phoenix gave him a nod, causing Apollo to start his cross-examination.

He watched on as the trial unfolded, slowly. Once the detective had finished her testimony, the prosecution called in another witness and now it was Sebastian's turn to look over his shoulder and catch Edgeworth's glance.

Phoenix' smile got bigger as Apollo pointed out a contradiciton and it bloomed into a full grin when Apollo casually gave his alternative theory of events, complete with a piece of evidence. But of course, Sebastian immediately smashed it to pieces with the help of the autopsy report and Phoenix didn't need Athena's special ability to feel Edgeworth's pride filling the air. The Chief Prosecutor seemed emotionless as always, but to those who knew him it was obvious that he was _beaming_ with delight.

Shouts of "Objection" and "Hold it" rang out and with every passing minute, the true killer became more and more obvious. Phoenix wanted to run down and slap Apollo for failing to notice a blatantly obvious contradicion, but had to stay in his seat. Eventually, it was _Sebastian_ who pointed it out, pointing his baton at Apollo like a blade, and Phoenix could've sworn that he'd seen Edgeworth whisper "Yes!" on the other side of the courtroom. Minutes passed, during which the defense and prosecution teamed up to take down the witness. Eventually, the witness gave his final piece of testimony, which pretty much sealed the case. Apollo claimed that the murderer was the defendant's father, who had murdered his wife and framed his own son, and by now Sebastian had pretty much joined the defense and was agreeing completely. In fact, Apollo was probably the more _reluctant_ one of the two. Phoenix remembered something Edgeworth had told him... Sebastian specialized in cases of parental abuse and mistreatment. He probably had seen plenty of cases like this. Phoenix shuddered at the thought. He wasn't sure if he could have dealt with cases like that himself...

Finally, a verdict was passed, with a single pound of the gavel: Not Guilty. The audience erupted in cheersand as always, some unknown person started throwing confetti. The defendant ran down the stand and embraced a very confused Apollo, tearstains on his face. Sebastian also got a hug and had the judge not been out of reach he, too, would have been embraced. On the other side, Edgeworth was clapping calmly, trying not to smile.

Really, what more could Phoenix ask for?


	2. Chapter 2

January 02, 11:30 AM

District Court

Defendant Lobby No. 1

#

All in all, the trial had been rather short. Phoenix couldn't help but smile at that. Surely that was because of the excellent teamwork between Apollo and Sebastian. He'd have to remember to applaud Apollo for that later. This kind of teamwork was rare. Sure, he and Edgeworth usually worked together, but ever since Edgeworth had been promoted to Chief Prosecutor, Phoenix hardly ever got to face him in court. And Athena _wanted_ to fight side by side with Blackquill, but unfortunally the prosecutor tended to have different plans. As for the few other defense attorneys he knew... actually, there were only Mr. Shields and Mr. Grossberg. The former tried his best, but seemed to rub most prosecutors the wrong way. The latter was way over sixty and close to retirement. Apollo was a nice change. He worked quite well with Prosecutor Gavin and seemed to have no problems with Mr. Sebastian. No problems? Based on how much they'd talked just before the trial, they were just an inch away from being best friends! A nice change, really.

Speaking of Sebastian and Apollo... there they were, chatting about the trial with a smile on their faces, Edgeworth trailing after them.

"...never even thought about that! I completely forgot that the victim was colorblind, that green jacket caught me off guard but it just explained _everything,_ how else would they have gotten the cream puffs... I feel so stupid!"

"Don't feel bad. After all, I overlooked it during my investigation. Oh, good evening, Mr. Wright."

"Good evening, Mr. Sebastian. Good job out there. You too, Apollo."

Sebastian took a deep bow, his red jacket fluttering as he did so, and Apollo imitated it, with rather horrible results. One of the drawbacks of being the partner of Phoenix Wright as opposed to _Miles fucking Edgeworth_.

Speaking of Edgeworth; he looked rather happy, was smiling for once. Naturally. After all, the truth had been found out. He had to be proud of his protege.

"I must agree with Wright. Both of you have done an excellent job."

"Thank you, Mr. Edgeworth", they answered in unison, bowing again. Then they broke into laughter.

Phoenix shook his head and turned over to his childhood friend: "They're getting along so well, though. Remember our first time in court?"

"If I remember correctly, I was quite busy pretending that I had never seen you before. Much like I tend to do whenever we are in public together."

That earned him a playful punch from Phoenix and _that_ made Phoenix feel soft inside in turn. How many other people were there who could have gotten away with hitting the Chief Prosecutor, even if it was just a gentle bump? Whe else? Franziska, yes. Larry. Gumshoe, maybe. Maya, on a really good day. But other than that...

This sort of friendly banter was just between Edgeworth and him. A small flicker of childishness, a sign that somewhere beneath the grey hair, the reading glasses and the stupid frilly cravat there was still the young boy Phoenix had once been friends with.

Aw fuck, he was getting sappy, was he? Besides, had once been friends?! They were friends! Not in the same way they'd been as children, but certainly in a similar way that was just as good! Maybe even better! Yeah!

"...about you, Wright?"

Oh damn, he hadn't listened. Uh...

He felt a sheepish smile coming on, the type of grin that always appeared when he had bluffed himself into a courner in court; which is to say that it was his default expression.

"You have not heard a single word I said. Correct?"

"Uh..."  
Edgeworth sighed. "Apollo would like to have a copy of a case file he has misplaced, so he'll be coming down to the prosecutor's office with me. I wished to know if you desired to come along."

"Oh. Yeah, sure. Trucy's still at school and so's Athena, so there's no one waiting for us right now."

"Very well. Will you join us, Sebastian? This is your last trial for today, so if you do not have any urgent paperwork left, you may go home."

Sebastian thought about it for a while, toying around with his baton. Phoenix wondered what he was conducting. Was it an actual song, his favourite maybe? Or perhaps a melody only he could hear, a constant song in the back of his mind...

Great, first he'd gotten sappy, now he was getting philosophical.

"Hm...", Sebastian said, stopping his imaginary orchestra right in it's tracks, "...I don't have any paperwork left, but, uhm... I promised Mr. Gavin do drop by, so... I... guess I'm coming with you, then."

They left together in silence. No, that wasn't right: They tried to leave, only for both Apollo and Sebastian to run back in order to fetch their bags and _then_ they left together in silence.

Edgeworth offered to take them along in that horrible red sports car of his and they gladly accepted. Phoenix snatched the passenger seat, but Sebastian and Apollo didn't seem to mind sharing the back at all. They were back to chatting again, something about an old case of Sebastian's involving poisonous gas and an bumbling artist. The artist sounded rather... familiar.

"Wright?", asked Edgeworth, buckling his seatbelt, "may I ask why Ms. Cykes is, as you said earlier, 'still at school'?"

"Huh? Oh, that. She is holding a speech at the Themis Legal Academy about the benefits of psychological analysis today. She'll be busy there until about two o' clock."

Edgeworth's only reply was a nod. He and Phoenix did not say a word as he started his car, but Sebastian and Apollo were still talking... quite loudly. Apparently, neither of them had any volume control. There had been a change in topic, now Sebastian was talking about a psychiater of his who'd confused him for another man named Sebastian and apparently, neither of them had noticed for almost one hour. Judging by Apollo's laughter, it was hilarious.

"...but it get's even better! He walks by me to get the other file, _my_ file, and I catch a glimpse of the paper he's carrying and it has a _huge_ picture of that other Sebastian on it and the guy looks _nothing_ like me! Buzzcut, tanned skin, square, blocky face with a large nose and bushy eyebrows! And my therapist had that picture right under his nose _the whole time_ and _still_ didn't notice the difference."

" _Oh god no!_ "

Chords of steel or not, that had been loud even for Apollo. Phoenix risked a look over his shoulder and found his partner hanging in his seatbelt, head red from lack of air and wheezing with laughter.

"Seriously, how dumb... how is this guy allowed to have patients?!"

"Hey, I didn't notice, either! That makes you feel extremely insane, okay? I mean, lying in on a therapy couch generally doesn't make you feel like the sanest person on earth, but lying on a therapy couch, talking about the problems of _somebody else_ without _noticing_ and you _talk_ and _talk_ , dear lord..."

He shook his head, apparently unable to deal with his own stupidy. Apollo was gasping by now.

" _God_ , that's... that has to be _the best_ story I've heard in _years_!"

The air froze.

It got colder. It really did get colder, somehow. Phoenix had no idea how. It was as if Sebastian's sudden silence was powerful enough to block out the sun itself, trapping the car and the men inside of it in a void without warmth.

Mental ice crystals formed in his head, pierced his brain. The void reached the point of absolute zero. The universe died.

Then Sebastian spoke, rebuilding the universe: "Yeah, I was hoping you'd like it. It's rather reticular, really."

Edgeworth coughed and it sounded worried, somehow: "The word you mean is 'ridiculous', Sebastian."

The resulting silence was rather awkward. Luckily it didn't last long; Sebastian and Apollo got over it fast enough and changed topic. But when Phoenix gazed over his shoulder once more, he found that Apollo was leaning back, eyes filled with thoughts and his fingers wrapped around his bracelet.

#

January 02, 12:04 AM

Prosecutor's Building

Parking Lot

#

For some reason Edgeworth decided to hold the car door open for Phoenix when they arrived, earning him a mock bow from Phoenix. The four of them went over to the door and stopped, faced with a choice.

Staircase or elevator?

Edgeworth was the first to say something: "Mr. Gavin's office is on the 10th floor. I belive that walking there should be no problem at all."

Phoenix opened his mouth to answer, but Apollo interrrupted him: "OBJECTION! How is that not a problem?!"

"I'll have you know that my own office is on the 12th floor and I take the stairs every day."

"Wh... OW! Mr. Wright!"

Apollo turned to glare at his boss for kicking his leg, but stopped when he saw Phoenix slowly shake his head. "Uhh... I mean, yes, but..."

"You may feel free to use the elevator if you wish to. I am hardly stopping you. Please, go ahead."

"Whelp, you heard it, Apollo. Let's get going!"

No one could roll his eyes better than Edgeworth.

"So you, too, will take the elevator, Wright? Hmpf. What about you, Sebastian?"

"I'll take the stairs with you, Mr. Edgeworth."

"At least one of you. Come on, then. Wright, Mr. Justice, we'll be waiting for you."

What a nerve, to suggest that Sebatian and Edgeworth would be faster than the freaking elevator! And yet, by the time the elevator finally arrived and opened it's doors for Phoenix and Apollo, the two prosecutors were already out of sight.

There was no one else in the elevator and so they stood alone, in silence. For about three seconds, because then Apollo said: "Uhm... what's the deal with Mr. Edgeworth and elevators?"

"Remember when you asked me about the deal with Edgeworth and earthquakes?"

"Yes. I distinctly remember not getting an answer."

"Ah, but when I give you the answer, all your questions will be solved."

A few moments passed.

"Uh..."

"But that isn't going to be now." A sentence which was followed by Apollo groaning and Phoenix grinning.

More moments. Again, it was Apollo who interrupted the silence, this time quietly... too quiet for the boisterous young man with the chords of steel.

"Mr. Wright?"

"Hm?"

"Did I...", he hesitated, but then continued, nervously playing with his bracelet, "...did I say something... wrong earlier?"

"Earlier when?", asked Phoenix but he knew what Apollo meant as soon as the words left his mouth. Of course, he meant...

"Back in the car. I think I upset Mr. Sebastian somehow. My bracelet reacted, too. I mean, it did that..."

"...all the time? Yeah, I know. Sebastian gets nervous quickly. It probably just kept reacting, didn't it?"

"Yes, threw me off completely." He laughed, but quickly got serious again.

"But that in the car, that was different. Stronger. As if he was really hurt."

And Phoenix remembered that moment. The moment when the universe had been frozen, smashed and pieced back together.

Slowly, he said: "I... wouldn't worry about it." _A lie._ Had he displayed any sign, anything for Apollo to percieve? But Apollo was still toying around with his bracelet and didn't seem to have noticed anything.

"Sebastian is... I don't really know much about him as a person. I know he was a prosecutor, then took a leave of absence for a few years before coming back. I first met him one, two years ago when he returned from studying abroad and I had no idea of his relationship with Edgeworth until just about two or three days ago. Feeling nervous ticks with him is probably just natural. He's pretty emotional."

A nod from Apollo: "True. When he started to cry during the first testimony... I thought for sure he was faking it. I actually got all worried that my bracelet wasn't reacting. I thought it was broken! But... those tears were real."

"We should get him to meet Athena", Phoenix said, then he suddenly chuckled. He'd latched onto the idea out of desperation, in order to change the topic, but now that he thought about it... A confused Athena, clutching Widget, tipping around on the Mood Matrix, trying to figure out what he was so sad about when he was, in fact, just sobbing over a fallen leaf... oh, they had to make them meet someday!

With a soft "bing", the doors opened and in stepped a random detective, arms full of files and pens. The arrival of a stranger silenced them both. They didn't speak at all until the doors opened again, revealing the long hallway of the 10th floor.

They had arrived before Edgeworth and Sebastian, but it had been close: The two were already taking the last few steps; Edgeworth brushing dust off his suit, Sebastian wiping tears from the corners of his eyes.

"Ah, there you are. We may finally proceed, then."

Phoenix wanted to answer with a snappy comeback, but decided to hold it in. Edgeworth just kept on talking.

"I belive that Mr. Gavin was the prosecutor on that case of yours, Mr. Justice, so he should have the file you wanted. We'll bring Sebastian there, fetch and copy the file for you. After that, you are free to go."

Klavier's office was that with the number 1009, in the far back of the hallway. He'd actually requested number 1010, but had pulled his request back upon learning that it already belonged to Blackquill. A man who, once he'd returned to his office, had been less than thrilled to find that he'd been gifted with a noisy neighbor. Nowadays, Klavier went to work every day with the knowledge that his physically closest workmate was perfectly capable - and, by now, willing - to cut him in half. That was probably not healthy.

Sebastian knocked. There was no reply.

"That's weird... I told him to meet me here. Perhaps he's..."

Apollo pushed his aside and pulled the handle. The door swung open, revealing an semi-normal office: It had the same furniture as all the offices: A desk, a chair, a chest of drawers, a few shelves and a small couch. Adding to that, however, was a gigantic set of amps, complete with a guitar. Several boxes were plugged into the computer, which was, of course, intended to be used solely for work-related matter. However, from the look of it, it had not been used for years. Instead, it's spot had been taken by a small laptop. Several large posters decorated the walls. Most of them had Klavier's face on them, much like the mug standing on the table. A guitar was taking up most of the couch. The normal light bulb of the desk lamp had been replaced with one that glew hot pink.

However, the weirdest thing in the room was probably Klavier Gavin himself.

Lying. On the floor. Motionless.

Unconcious.


	3. Chapter 3

January 02, 01:27 PM

Dye-Young Hospital

Waiting lobby

#

Mr. Wright was pacing through the room, hands behind his back. Apollo had found a corner to hide in, hugging his own legs. At first, Mr. Sebastian had tried to cheer him up; now he was sitting on a nearby bench, quietly crying into his handkerchief. Heaven knew where Mr. Edgeworth had run off to. Apollo felt horrible.

Klavier hadn't woken up yet. And worse, they had no idea why he'd been unconcious in the first place. He wasn't injured, that much was clear... at least not on the outside, and _that_ was worrying.

If Mr. Wright kept this up, he'd end up carving a hole into the carpet with his feet.

But then again, the carpet was ugly. Might as well keep on pacing until it was in pieces. Heh. Pace it to pieces. That was good. And by good, he meant bad.

Bad jokes to get rid of the bad facts, like the fact that Klavier might just as well be dying right now. Ugh. What was he thinking. People didn't just die, especially not in a building as well-guarded as the prosecutor's building.

Except Neil Marshall. And Buddy Faith.

Shut up shut up shut up _shut up!_

Klavier was _fine_. He was _FINE_!

If only Apollo had been able to belive that!

Of course they'd called the hospital as soon as had been possible. Of course they had tried first aid. Of course they had tried to get the doctors to talk. Actually... wasn't that the reason Mr. Edgeworth had left? To talk to a doctor? Apollo had no idea. His mind was trapped in a bubble. He was scared of being stuck in there. He was even more scared of having it pop. He wanted to know what was wrong with Mr. Gavin. He wanted to sit here forever, never having to hear the diagnosis. His brain was doing a full-time job of creating horrible illnesses out of thin air, matching symptoms with badly informed articles written by hypochondriacs, for hypochondriacs. Unfortunally, fainting was a common symptom in those articles.

Sebastian was digging through his pockets, searching for something to replace his soaked handkerchief. Apollo found a packet of tissues in his own jacket and threw it into Sebastian's general direction.

Mr. Wright had changed his path, was now walking in a circle. Maybe he really was trying to protect the carpet, who knew?

It would have been nice to have instructions, something to do. But there was nothing he could do, nothing to distract himself with, nothing to do but wait and wait for an diagnose, for information, for answers he didn't even want to hear _but he wanted to hear them so badly._

Sebastian had already used up half of the tissues.

The waiting game. Time to play it.

Eventually, the door opened and in stepped Mr. Edgeworth. He didn't say anything, just entered the room, sat down and waited until Apollo, Phoenix and Sebastian were listening. Then he spoke.

"After a few bloodtests, it is now clear that Mr. Gavin hasn't fainted on his own. Fact is..."

He hesitated, placing one hand on his arm, somewhat hugging himself as he broke eye contact.

"Fact it... that traces of a chemical called Zitraine have been found in his blood stream."

Sebastian blinked, slowly: "Zitraine...?"

"Zitraine is a substance used in weed killers and detergents. It has only been invented a few months ago and..."

Apollo's heart was going to explode. He knew how that sentence ended. He'd read about that in the newspaper.

"And...", he whispered, "the man who'd invented it died three days later after ingesting some of it..."

Deadly. Zitraine was deadly. Zitraine could kill people. Zitraine could kill _Klavier_...

"Edgeworth! Does that mean Mr. Gavin is..."

Phoenix was sweating, his fists almost tight enough to pierce his skin with his nails. But then Edgeworth shook his head and the world became whole again.

"Mr. Gavin has only ingested a very small amount of it. His life is not in danger."

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in.

Not in danger. Klavier was alive. Klavier was going to live.

"Of course", continued Edgeworth, "there is still a little problem."

"Oh?"

All the worries came flooding back. He wasn't going to die, what _was_ he going to do? He vaguely recalled a story about a poisoned prosecutor, a man who'd been in a coma for seven years. Was that... going to happen to Klavier? Trapped in his own body and mind, for one year, two years, five years, the entire rest of his life until someone pulled the plug on him? Or maybe he would wake up; wake up with brain damage, no longer able to read, write, talk, confined to a wheelchair, confined to a hospital room, unable to remember anything, unable to play gitar, to ride his motorcycle, to stand in court, blind, deaf, silently begging for the sweet release of death...

 _Shut up shut up SHUT UP!_

"The problem, of course, is that the prosecutor's building does not use anything that has Zitraine as an ingredient. Meaning that the chances are high that this is more that just an accident."

He pushed his glasses up, the frame hitting his hair.

"Meaning that someone may have attempted to poison Mr. Gavin."

#

January 02, 01:38 PM

Dye-Young Hospital

Room 18

#

Klavier looked like a corpse.

Well, maybe not exactly, because who in their right mind would hook a corpse up to an IV line, cover a corpse's mouth with an oxygen mask and surround a corpse with that many machines, most of them connected to him somehow with wires and tubes disappearing beneath the duvet. But still, as Apollo looked at him, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was viewing a dead body.

Klavier's tanned skin looked worringly pale. His hair was undone, surrounding his head like a halo and that alone was enough to make Apollo's stomach turn. He shouldn't look like this, so weak and helpless and... and...

He tried to focus on the machines, but that only made him feel worse. There were so many of them! Most of them displayed numbers or letters, things he recognized, but could not understand, not in this context. A green line formed a chain of mointains on a display. This had to be Klavier's heartbeat. It was steady and constant, but was it supposed to be this... weak?

Was it even weak? Or was that just how the machine displayed normal heartbeats? God, he had no idea. He just wanted for Klavier to wake up. Or even better: Wake up himself. Find that this entire day had been nothing but a dream, find that he'd fallen asleep in Mr. Edgeworth's car after the trial and hadn't even reached the prosecutor's building yet. That would have been sweet, the perfect way to save this horrible day. But as he reached down to wipe the sweat of Klavier's face, he knew that wasn't going to happen. Klavier had been poisoned and that was a fact.

Had been poisoned.

Mr. Edgeworth had alerted the police before leaving to investigate, taking Sebastian along. He hadn't even stayed to see Mr. Gavin. Part of Apollo hated him for it, hated him for not even bothering to check his own employee's well-being. The other, smaller part stayed quiet, because it knew perfectly well that Mr. Edgeworth's actions were a thousand times more useful that what Apollo was doing. Sitting here wasn't going to help Klavier in any way, meanwhile Mr. Edgeworth and Mr. Sebastian were already working on finding the culprint. And yet, Apollo couldn't move. What could he have done, anyway? Go to the crime scene with Mr. Edgeworth and Mr. Sebastian? What for? He was a defense attorney. He had zero investigative authority, even _if_ there had been a client to defend. Go back to the Agency? But that meant facing Mr. Wright, who'd left to fetch Trucy from school and explain the situation to her. Oh yeah, right... Trucy. She and Mr. Gavin were friends. She loved his music and he came to her shows, sometimes even bringing flowers. She'd be upset for sure... no, no, he couldn't deal with that, he couldn't go there.

But then what? Go home? To an empty house with empty rooms, with only a cat as company? Maybe that wasn't so bad. Burying his face in Mikeko's soft fur sounded just about perfect right now...

Ah, but there was still the way there, a long way to go and one could think while walking, think bad thoughts. If only there'd been something to do in the meantime or someone to talk to or...

Athena!

Had anyone alerted her? Did she know? He fingered for his phone, then stopped. Phones were forbidden in here. Besides, hadn't he searched for something to do while walking home? What was he doing, trying call her now?

In the end, he stayed at Klavier's side for another ten minutes before finally leaving. As soon as he'd left the building, he dialed for Athena.

No reaction but beeping. One beep, two beeps, three beeps. Maybe she was still busy with her speech? Oh, yeah. Until about two o' clock.

Another look at his phone. 01:56.

Huh.

Maybe...

Yes, he'd go see Athena. The Themis Legal Academy wasn't that far away, perhaps two minutes if he managed to catch the bus and knowing Athena, she'd stay a little longer to chat with Juniper. He'd arrive just in time to catch her. Then he cold tell her everything and then... then...

Then she'd be sad and he'd be sad _again_. Great. But there was the bus station and there was the bus and he should probably start running if he wanted to catch that but he didn't and now he had to wait five minutes. Great. Why had he done _that_?

But eventually, the next bus came and like Apollo had expected, Athena was sitting on the bench in front of the academy, together with Juniper. There was a large box next to her.

No, wait. That was no box. That was Myriam Scuttlebutt crouching on the ground.

Athena noticed him and gave him a cheerful wave: "Hi, Polly!"

He managed a weak smile. If she was so cheerful, that meant she really didn't know yet. Maybe this hadn't been a good idea after all. But it was to late now. He was fine. He had to be.

"Polly? You're feeling sad..."  
Oh, yeah. Emotions. Shit.

"Uh..." Great start. "...uhm..." Way to go!

"Apollo... are you all right?"

Great, and now Juniper was worried, too. And judging by the sound of a keyboard clacking, Myriam was writing this down.

"No, I..."

Just say it, dammit! "Prosecutor Gavin has been poisoned!" There!

Athena stared.

The keyboard had stopped clacking, having been replaced by Juniper's faint coughing. No one said another word, so Apollo just kept speaking: "He's not gonna die or anything, but he's unconcious and they don't know when he'll wake up. Mr. Edgeworth and Mr. Sebastian went to check out his office and they want to find the culprint, so..."

"Apollo! Slow down!"

Oh. He'd been rambling...

"Start at the beginning, okay. Just calm down."

And so he took a deep breath and began to talk, about the trial, about going to the prosecutor's building and of course about finding Klavier's lifeless body in his office. His audience stayed quiet until he finished. Somewhere underneath the box, Myriam shook her head.

"Sss, sss, sss. 'Prosector poisoned in his own office'. What a headline."

"Myriam!" Juniper looked shocked. "How can you say that?!"

"Sss. Don't you think that the students here want to know what is happening in the legal world? Besides, there's only so much I can write about this bug here."

She got up, dropping her notepad as she did so.

"Oops. Anyway, I'll go tell Robin about this. She's a huge Gavinners fan, she'll be really pissed if we don't tell her."

With that, she picked up her notepad and left, yelling a goodbye at Juniper as she went by. Apollo took her place next to the bench. Athena placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled as he glanced up at her.

"Don't be worried, yes? He'll be all right. Just stop thinking about it."

 _What, you think I haven't tried that yet_? But he nodded anyway and tried to search for a different topic, finally settling on the one closest at hand.

"So, I see Ms. Sc... I mean, Myriam is a part of your group now?"

Juniper gave a relived smile. "Yes, she's actually pretty nice. And the two of us can talk about judge stuff together. She's been helping me with some... thing I've been unable to understand, like chapter nine, the part about how, during civil cases, a judge can at any given time..."

"Woah, woah! I'm going to stop her here, Polly, unless you want to listen to about two hours of courtroom rules!"

Better than two hours of thinking about Klavier. But he couldn't say that. "I'm just glad you all stayed friends", he said instead. "It's always bad to lose friends over small things. I mean, it's bad to lose them over big things, too, but..."

"Yes... I know what you mean..."

Juniper frowned, then brightened up again.

"Oh, but we're back to being best friends now. Just three days ago, Robin took Myriam and me to an art exhibit at Lordly Tailor."

Something seemed wrong with that... "What about Hugh?"

Now she frowned again. "He has the flu right now, so we couldn't take him along. Well... the teacher said he has the flu. I...", _cough, cough_ , "I think he's just... overworked. He's been retaking all those tests to get real grades, but that means he has to learn all the time and... you know, he probably wouldn't have come along even if he wasn't sick..." Now she looked sad and Apollo tried to think of something to cheer her up. "Perhaps you could visit him later. Maybe try to get him to relax a bit? It must be really hard for him."

"Yeah...", _cough, cough_. Her coughing was making his bracelet twitch and he rubbed it to keep it quiet.

Athena, who'd been rather quiet, decided to throw something in: "Three days ago at Lordly Tailor, huh? Pretty close, then. That exhibit's been robbed yesterday."

"W...WHAT?!"

"Yeah! One of the statues is gone! The most valuable one, too! The Girl of Gold, pure gold and rubies! And I've heard that the police knows who it was already, but... _they're not doing anything_!"

"Wh...why?"

" _Nobody knows!_ ", she whispered, her eyes bulging out as Juniper laughed.

They started discussing the possible reasons for that, getting less and less serious with every passing moment. It was a silly conversation, all about creating foolish conspiracy therories. But it was better than thinking of Klavier and so Apollo joined in, until the hours passed and they had to head home.


	4. Chapter 4

January 03, 09:21 AM

Prosecutor's Building

10th Floor

#

Apollo wasn't even sure why he was here. Hadn't he decided that it was dumb just yesterday? But that had been before spending the night in a empty house, with even his cat hiding away from him. Before switching on the radio to be met with 'Atroquinine, my Love' and _of course_ it had to be the one song about poison, _of course_. It had been before going to sleep and waking up in a cold sweat, having nightmare after nightmare of his courtroom rival dying.

Now he was here, standing in the hallway. Policemen were surrounding the door leading to Mr. Gavin's office and he wasn't sure how they'd react to him. To his surprise, though, they completely ignored him as he passed by.

Entering the office, he was met with the familiar sight of Ema Skye. She was talking to a large, buff man in a green trenchcoat. He seemed vaguely familiar, although Apollo couldn't remember having seen him before.

Ema noticed him and waved: "Apollo!"

Somehow, he managed a smile. "Hello, Ms. Skye. Found any clues yet?"

"You can bet on that! But first, I gotta introduce you!"

And she pointed at the man next to her.

"This is Detective Gumshoe, Head Detective of the Criminal Affairs Department. Detective, this man is Apollo Justice. You know, Mr. Wright's partner."

A large grin bloomed on the detective's face and he laughed. It was a deep, pure laugh and already Apollo found himself starting to trust this man.

"Mr. Wright's partner, huh? Well, that's just great, pal! Can't wait to meet him again, it's been way too long!"

"Oh, you know Mr. Wright?"

"Sure, I'm Mr. Edgeworth's assistant, after all! Before my promotion, I got assigned to most of Mr. Wright's cases."

Apollo blinked. Oh, yeah, Mr. Wright had mentioned something like that once. He'd dismissed it as nonsense. After all, Mr. Wright was like an old captain when it came to spinning a yarn. Just like that prosecutor he'd mentioned. A prosecuting coffee-addict with a mask who'd also been his mentor's boyfriend? Yes, sure. That guy _definitely_ existed.

So this was the famed detective Gumshoe, master of metal detectors and salary cuts. Why not. Whatever. He turned back to Ema.

"Uh, you said you found clues. Could you... tell me about them?" This wasn't going to work.  
"Huh? Oh, yeah. No problem." Wait, what?

"Uhm... aren't you supposed to..."

Detective Gumshoe laughed again and answered in her stead: "Nah, if you're anything like your mentor, you'll get the information anyway. Better to just give it to you, pal."

"...Okay then..."

Fine, he'd take it. Everything to find out the truth behind Klavier's fate.

Ema reached into her bag and pulled out a plastic bag. "Here, you see this?"

He blinked. "That is... a half eaten chocolate bar?"

"Yeah, that's what you can see. What you _can't_ see is that this bar is chock full of Zitraine! Only science can see that!"

She put on her pink sunglasses, only to then make them completely useless by looking over the rim.

"Now, based on the amount of Zitraine he ingested, we can say that it must have taken about fifteen minutes for it to work. The good part of that is that we can safely ignore... oh, Mr. Edgeworth!"

Apollo turned and sure enough, there was Mr. Edgeworth, followed by Mr. Sebastian. Next to Ema, detective Gumshoe saluted.

"Good evening Ms. Skye, good evening, Mr. Justice. Hello, detective. I am here to bring in the prosecutor in charge." And he pointed over to Sebastian, who bowed.

"Hey, detective. Uh, so... I got most of the news already..." He started listing them, underlining each point with a tap of his baton. "First, you found Zitraine on a chocolate bar. Second, you found a bag with nine other unopened chocolate bars on the table, all of them laced with Zitraine. Third, you sorted the objects in this room into important and not important, based on time. And fourth, uh... I belive there was someone who needs to be questioned?"

That was news to Apollo, but before he could say anything, his bracelet contracted quite suddenly, squeezing his wrist and directing his attention to detective Gumshoe, who now looked a little... lost.

"Yes, Sir... there is someone who needs to be questioned, but... uh... I'll go get him."

As he left, Ema filled Edgeworth and Sebastian in on the details and Apollo eavesdropped in the most impolite way possible. He didn't even try to pretend that he was listening.

"...so we can now assume that he'd only been unconcious for about two minutes when you found him. Seeing how the poison would take about fifteen minutes to work, he must have ingested it sometime between 11:50 and twelve 'o clock. Now, there is one person who entered his room, but he entered it after 12, so he's not really a suspect. But..."

"Yes, I see. This witness might have information regarding Mr. Gavin's state at that time. Very well. May I ask who that witness is?"

Silence ensued. It was a loud silence, once that really forced itself into the head and plugged the ears up. Ema chuckled, a very awkward chuckle. "Uh, well..."

"Hey, Edgey!"

" **NGGHHHHOOOOOOOOOO!** "

Edgeworth's scream was one of despair, of pure, sheer horror. It was the scream of a man who had seen hell and apparently, hell was a security guard with spiky, brown hair and a goatee.

"That's no way to greet an old friend, Edgey! You could at least say Hi before you start screaming!"

And now the guard was angry. Actually, angry was an understatement... if Apollo hadn't known better, he'd have thought that the man's teeth had gotten pointier. And Mr. Edgeworth seemed incredibly nervous now - had those dark circles under his eyes been there before? He turned over to Sebastian and actually shoved him into the guard's direction.

"Here. This is a task for you, Sebastian."

The prosecutor looked confused at first. Then, horror flashed over his face: "W-wait! I know you! Y-you're..."  
"Hey, yeah! I know you, too! You're that idiot who was with the pretty judge!"

"Mr... Butz... right?"

"Nah, you and Edgey are buds now, so you can call me Larry. Or Laurice, if I'm busy doing artist stuff."

Apollo looked back and forth between them. Who on earth...

Someone placed a hand on his shoulder. It was detective Gumshoe, who sighed. "That's Larry Butz, pal. He's a childhood friend of both Mr. Wright and Mr. Edgeworth and he has... he, uhm..."

The detective flailed his arms for a moment, then gave up: "He's... unique."

"I... noticed."

"Mr... I mean, Larry. You went in here after twelve, right?"  
"Yep, totally did! What, you want me to testify on that?"

Sebastian didn't bow this time. Instead, for reasons known only to him, he curtsied.

"Actually, that's pretty much it, yeah."

"Nice curtsy! You'd make a good woman, you know? Okay, brace yourself, I'm super good at testifying, I've done it a thousand times!"

Edgeworth mumbled something to himself, something that was probably not polite. Still, Larry started talking without paying any attention to him.

"So, I usually don't start working until three PM, but today I came in early to meet Melicia! Oh, but she wasn't there! She's sick! Oh, my poor Melicia!"

He was sobbing now.

"I just hope it's not too bad. I send her a painting to make her feel better, but work is so lonely without her and I only started working here because of her anyway! I was really depressed the whole morning, I even tried to call her but she didn't answer! Ooh, what if she's to weak to hold a phone, Melicia, my..."

"LARRY!"

Larry winced and so did Apollo. Edgeworth wasn't usually one to lose his temper.

" _Please_ just tell us about going to Mr. Gavin's office."

"I was just about to get to that!" _No, you weren't._ "Just listen, will you? So, I went into his room at around twelve. He was perfectly fine then. Seemed happy."

...

Larry leaned back and seemed quite happy with himself.

Apollo blinked.

"Uh... that was it?"

"Yep!"

Sebastian stared at him, turned to Edgeworth for help but the Chief Prosecutor could only offer a shrug. Swallowing hard, Sebastian turned back to Larry.

"Aren't there... more details? Like... why did you go into his room in the first place?"

"Uh..."

There was silence for about two minutes. Ema and Gumshoe were not even listening anymore, they'd gone back to their investigation. Apollo wanted to do the same, but at the same time...

This man was fascinating in the worst way possible.

More silence. Edgeworth coughed, but Larry didn't react. Sebastian wrapped his sleeve around his baton.

And silence. Until finally, words came, like sunlight after the eternal night of the north pole.

"Oh, now I remember! He got a package!"

That was... interesting. "A package?", asked Sebastian, taking notes on a piece of paper he'd fetched from nowhe... actually, was that a tissue?

"He sometimes gets stuff from his fans. You know they're for him if you can't read the label! It's always some weird mix of english and german. She agreed that it was for him, so..."

"Hmpf. She?"

"Yeah, Leonora!"

"...and who is that?"

"Oh, that's my colleague."

Edgeworth looked like he was going to murder someone. "So in other words, there is another person who knows about all this?!"

"Hm? Yeah, of course. I can't guard this building alone, Edgey! The place is huge!"

"You are one of the two people I'd like to see this building being guarded _from_! Who even hired you?!"

Sebastian went up on tiptoes and whispered something into Mr. Edgeworth's ear. Whatever it was, it caused the prosecutor's face to scrunch up as if he'd bitten into a lemon. "Ah. I... see. I will have to cut my salary, then..." And now he actually looked sad for once.

"Anyway, I went up to deliver that package to him. Then I went back down and made some coffee."

He looked extremely proud. "So, anything else?"

Edgeworth sighed, a truly pathetic sound. "No. I... don't think your testimony will be of any importance. Detective Gumshoe? Please find this 'Leonora' and find out wether or not Larry is telling the truth."

"EDGEY! Why don't you trust me!"

"Because I've met you before. Mr. Sebastian, Mr. Justice, did you take notes of this?"

Apollo felt a little guilt building in his stomach, he hadn't even thought about that. Sebastian, however, had. Maybe there were benefits of being mentored by Miles Edgeworth. Maybe he should have...

"If so, crumple them up. I know from experience that allowing this man to take part in anything related to court is bound to end in chaos."

Oh. Well, okay then.

"WHAT?! EDGEY! You... you... I saved your life by taking part in courtroom stuff, you... I'm never doing that again! Next time, I'll leave you to die!"

"I highly doubt that there will be a next time, Larry."

"Are you sure of that, Mr. Edgeworth?"

The voice actually caused Apollo to wince. He'd completely forgotten that Ema was there. Now she was flashing a wide grin at Edgeworth as she tried to hold back a chuckle.

"I mean... those involved with Mr. Wright have a rather high chance of being accused of murder. I can draw you a diagram if you'd li..."

"NO, that will not be necessary, thank you. Larry, kindly leave the room now. Sebastian... keep the notes you took."

In the end, it took about ten more minutes until Larry finally left, minutes filled with him annoying Edgeworth, chatting with Sebastian, flirting with Ema and thankfully ignoring Apollo. However, eventually they suceeded, pretty much shoving him out of the door. At about the same time, Ema left to get some fingerprints analyzed and Detective Gumshoe returned and stated that, yes, Larry had spoken the truth about bringing a package to Mr. Gavin.

"Hm. Very well. Mr. Sebastian, what is your opinion on this?"

"Well, as the package arrived after twelve 'o clock, it can't be the source of the poison and Mr. Butz cannot be considered a suspect. We should still take it as evidence, though. Just to be sure."

Was the really nothing special about this package? Maybe Apollo should check on it, just in case. It was already opened, so perhaps nobody would notice...

"HEY! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, PAL!?"

"AAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!" _So much for that idea!_

Detective Gumshoe had been trustworthy from the very beginning, partly because he knew Mr. Wright, partly because he gave of a near perfect first impression. But now the detective looked angry and the realization hit that this man, first impression or not, was still a very large, very beefy police officer who most likely carried a pistol, too. Eep!

"You can't just touch evidence like that, pal!" Okay, he'd calmed down a bit. Still, this...

"You gotta wear gloves when doing that!" And a pair of disposable latex gloves landed in his arms. Apollo stared at them.

"He's right, you know?", Sebastian said, forming a frame with his fingers as he examined the pen on Klavier's desk. "This is a case involving poison. You wouldn't want to get some on your fingers, would you?"

"Oh... y-yes..."

"Besides, Mr. Justice, getting your fingerprints all over a crime scene is never a good idea."

He'd never worn gloves during investigations. Was that another benefit of being mentored by Mr. Edgeworth? Was there perhaps such a thing as... exchange students, but between prosecutors and defense attorneys? Any way for him to learn from the apparently much more capable mind of Miles Edgeworth? He put on the gloves, opening the box. Better not think thoughts like this in front of Mr. Wright, seeing how he had those 'Psychelocks' of his. Or in front of Trucy and their shared tell-telling, for that matter. As for Athena and the Mood Matrix...

The Anything Agency was really something, wasn't it?

"And?", asked Mr. Sebastian as Apollo opened the box, "anything interesting?"

"Not really. Uh..."

And Apollo dug through the box, listening the items he found: "There's some make-up, a few pens, a set of decorative stamps, a Gavineers mug..."

"They send him his own merchandise? That's... weird, pal."

"Detective, I know it is rather unprofessional of me to ask, but... aren't you currently wearing socks featuring the police mascot, the Blue Badger?"

Sebastian chuckled. "Yeah, exactly, Besides, joke's on whoever send this. He already had one!"

And he used his baton to tap the coffee mug on the table. It was half full still... "Has that..."

"...been tested for Zitraine? Sure, pal! Didn't find anything. Anything else in that box?"

"No, nothing else."

The detective shrugged. "Well, the other security guard downstairs told me that he gets presents like that a lot. Gifts from fans who don't know what he'd like, so they just give him everything."

Mr. Edgeworth was writing something down on his notepad, nodding as the detective talked. Every once in a while, he tapped the paper with his pen or licked his fingers to turn the pages. It was a rather peaceful sight, actually.

But it didn't last long, because a few seconds later, the door was thrown open and...

"HEY, EDGEY, THERE'S SOMETHING I FORGOT TO MENTION!"


	5. Chapter 5

January 03, 09:51 AM

Prosecutor's Building

Klavier Gavin's office

#

Edgeworth's reaction would have been a lot funnier if Apollo's own reaction hadn't been so similar. They both winced, gasped, tripped. The only difference was that Apollo didn't drop anything because he didn't have anything to drop. There was a clattering noise as Mr. Edgeworth's notepad hit the ground.

"LARRY! Didn't I tell you to leave?!"

Apollo had chords of steel. Mr. Edgeworth though, appeared to have eyes of steel. His glare was strong enough to break glass and now, the entire strenght of that glare was focussed on the unfortunate man in the doorway. Most men would have run away, but the artist just pouted. That alone was probably enough to net him a 'Bravest Man on Earth' trophy.

"I was just trying to help, man! If you're gonna be this rude, maybe I won't tell you what I remembered after all."

Edgeworth seemed just about ready to give a sharp reply, but when both Sebastian and Gumshoe raised their hands and shook their heads, he swallowed hard and managed to stay silent.

"Ugh." It was up to Apollo, then.

"What did you remember, Larry?"

"Huh? Oh, hey. Didn't see you there. You're Nick's buddy, right. Appolo Justice!"

"It's Apollo, actually. So, uh, could you tell me..."  
"Sure, but don't tell Edgey! He doesn't deserve to know this. If he won't listen to me, fine, he'll never know my secrets! Like how I used one of his cravats to clean my paintbrush after..."

"YOU DID _WHAT_?!"

"AAAAAAHHHHH! EDGEY! HOW DID YOU FIND OUT ABOUT THAT!?"  
The next five minutes were filled with Edgeworth trying to murder Larry and Sebastian, Apollo and Gumshoe trying to stop him.

Eventually, the prosecutor calmed down.

"Ugh... fine. What _is_ it you remember? Tell us and _leave_."

"Forget it! I'm still not telling you. I'm just telling Apollo, so don't you dare to eavesdrop now!" And then he turned to Apollo, took a deep breath and casually said, in a voice loud enough to to be heard from Blackquill's office next door: "When I came in here, Mr. Gavin was writing something. He was so busy with it, he didn't even notice me at first. No clue if that's important! Just felt like mentioning it."

He gave a wave with his sleeve, which, as Apollo noticed, was way longer than his arm. Weren't there any uniforms in his size? Then he left, cheerful as ever.

Edgeworth closed his eyes and tried to calm himself. "Very well. Please find whatever Mr. Gavin was writing."

He hadn't given that order to anyone in particular, so it was probably save to join the search. The desk was of course the most obvious spot, but there was nothing there. Had Larry ever mentioned where exactly Mr. Gavin had been? Sure, he'd been next to his desk when they'd found him, but, well... people sometimes moved around. Darn it.

Besides, Sebastian had already claimed the desk and was rummaging through the drawers. Detective Gumshoe was looking at the shelves, opening files in search for something that had been added recently. That left...

...the couch for Apollo. One could sit there and write, right? Nothing in plain sight there. Why was the couch green, anyway? It didn't fit Klavier in the slightest. And it wasn't a pretty green, either. Was there something in the cracks? Yes, crumbs. And a bobby pin and a guitar pick. But nothing interesting. Maybe underneath the couch, then...

Apollo blinked. There _was_ something underneath the couch...

He reached out and managed to grab it. It was a small, yellow piece of paper, with tiny words squeezed onto it. It wasn't dusty, so it had to be written recently.

"I think I found it!"

But as Mr. Edgeworth, Mr. Sebastian and Detective Gumshoe stepped closer to him, he realized something: The words weren't illegible, as he'd thought at first. He could clearly recognize the letters. They just didn't form words.

"Uh... does that say anything, pal? 'Cause I can't read it."

Sebastian had the same problem, judging by his dumbfounded expression. But Mr. Edgeworth smiled and tapped his forehead with his finger.

"That is no surprise, detective. It appears that this note is written in German. Ah..."

And he took the note from Apollo's hand and began to read out loud in a language Apollo couldn't understand.

" _Kummer, brich mein Herz entzwei_

 _hart wie Stein, so schwer wie Blei_

 _Nur der Tod kann alles heilen_

 _und das Leben zieht forbei_

 _Bruder, Bruder_

 _Dieser Tage_

 _soll das Schicksal uns ereilen_

 _uns in Tod und Leben teilen_

 _der Galgen nur mit seinen Seilen_

 _setzt unser beider Seelen frei._ Those appear to be song lyrics."

"Huh? Didn't his band break up already?"

"Well, yes, but it is a hobby of his. I assume that he delights in creating music, regardless of wether or not it will be played on stage."

"True, heh..."

Edgeworth placed the paper in his pocket and for a few seconds there, he seemed almost... concerned. But before Apollo could think about that, the door flew open once again and in came Ema Skye, complete with a huge stack of papers: "All right, Mr. Edgeworth! I had all the fingerprints analyzed!"

"Very good. And?"

"We found prints belonging to various detectives and police officers on the files, but that's perfectly normal. Mr. Blackquill's prints were on the laptop. We asked him about it and apparently, he borrowed it yesterday, as his own laptop isn't able to run a progam he needed. We checked that and it appears to be true. Other than that, only Mr. Gavin's own prints were found."

Sebastian took a note of that and this time, Apollo did the same thing.

With that, the investigation was pretty much finished for now. To Apollo's surprise, Sebastian was more that willing to share pictures of all the evidence with him, despite the fact that Apollo didn't have any investigative authority and was probably never going to have any.

After that, he was once more left with nothing else to do but listen to his own aching mind.

#

January 03, 10:28 AM

Prosecutor's Building

Chief Prosecutor's office

#

Edgeworth had taken all 'unimportant' evidence into his office. Now he sat there, staring at it, wondering why he had done that. It was called unimportant for a reason.

His head hurt a little. As much as he would have liked to blame Larry for that, he knew that wasn't the only reason. The real reason was much worse.

A prosecutor had been attacked. In his office. One of _his_ prosecutors had been attacked in his office. It was a punch right into Edgeworth's pride and he couldn't deal with that.

There was someone out there, poisoning prosecutors. No one had died... this time. But what if there was another time? All it would have taken was eating the whole chocolate bar instead of only half of it. That would have been enough to end Mr. Gavin's life.

He needed a drink. He needed tea, to be exact. _God_ , he needed tea.

After a few moments of pondering, he picked a teabag at random and sprayed it with the Zitraine testing fluid Ms. Skye had left behind. No reaction. He sprayed the cup, too. No reaction. After a little more thinking, he proceeded to spray the pot, the kettle, the spoon and even the sugar, knowing fully well he wasn't going to use it. No reaction. Safe, then.

This was silly, really, but as he watched the water boil, he couldn't feel but wince: He hadn't checked the water. The water? Surely someone would have already noticed if the water supply had been poisoned. Besides, the amount of Zitraine needed for that was enourmous. Why had he even considered that?

He really needed tea. And yes, once the hot, dark and definitely not poisoned liquid touched his lips, he instantly felt better.

Evidence. Fine. Unimportant or not, he could still take care of it. One could never know what would end up being important. He fingered around for his notepad, found it and began to write. First thing, just list everything. A used coffee mug. No traces of poison found. A shirt. Why? Who changed shirts in his office? And it wasn't like this was a proper shirt, as a prosecutor was supposed to wear. It was a Gavineers t-shirt. Drinking from his own merchandise was one thing, but wearing it? Really?

A tie. That, at least, worked. He himself always carried a spare cravat on him. What else? The things found on the table: pens, paper, the laptop... a nice laptop. It was a lovely shade of golden pink and seemed to be a pretty new model. He included the brand in his notes. He needed a new laptop anyway, so... why not?

Then the package. He'd written down what was inside, but then he'd given those notes to the detective, so. he'd have to check again.

Reaching out to open it. No, wait. Gloves. Why was he so distracted?

He found a pair of gloves and put it on. All right, then. A mug, a few pens, some make-up, a few stamps - now that he saw them up close, he realized that they, too, had Mr. Gavin's face on them - and that was it. Good. And then of course...

The small piece of paper Mr. Justice had found. Edgeworth had to give him credit for that. He himself would have overlooked it, despite his famed 'every nook and cranny' approach. But the lyrics worried him.

They brought to mind a certain possibility, one he didn't really want to consider. But, on the other hand...

It had to be considered, no matter how ugly it was. Besides, Zitraine...

...was a really good poison, he had to admit that. It worked relatively quickly, caused unconciousness and a swift death. The only backdraw of it was that it was easy to detect. Every first-grade chemist student could have mixed the testing fluid. Useless if one wished to hide the cause of death. But if one didn't...

Someone had to ban that stuff. It was god's gift to murderers. And to...

Ugh.

He read the lyrics again. They were written on one of the small yellow squares made for notes. Like Post-its without the glue.

It should have been white, written in haste, placed on his desk, found there by a bellboy, just a single sentence with the power of a hundred words...

Amazing, how a song with ten whole lines could have the exact same meaning as five small words. Sure, he might be wrong, but his logic was usually on point. If only it wasn't.

The room was silent, safe for the sound of a man licking his fingers, the sound of a page being flipped and then the sound of pen on paper.

#

January 03, 10:46 AM

Wright Anything Agency

#

"...and that's all we found out."

With nothing else to do, Apollo had returned to the Agency. Now he was shoving the results of his investigation to Mr. Wright and Athena. The table in front of him was covered with the pictures Sebastian had given him and he'd done his best to explain them to his boss and his colleague. Mr. Wright seemed rather happy with Apollo's work.

"Very good. Now, I guess what we really need to know is where those poisoned chocolate bars came from?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Unfortunally, that won't be easy."

He dug through the heap of pictures until he found the one depicting the chocolate bars, both the half-eaten single one and the bag.

"I've never even seen that brand before."

Athena picked up the picture, turning it in her hand. "I've seen that before. Crispeys... they're an European brand."

Phoenix bit his lip. "That might not be a bad thing. If this brand is rare, then it is most likely not sold in many stores. We might..."

He stopped when he noticed Athena and Apollo staring at him and sighed.

"Yeah, yeah, you're right. That isn't going to work."

He shook his head. "Who are we kidding? For all we know, it'll be impossible to figure out where that chocolate came from until Mr. Gavin wakes up."

At least that was a 'until' and not an 'if'. Still, the bad feelings had returned to Apollo's gut and refused to leave. This investigation had produced pretty much nothing. Was that all he could do, really? He searched for the reassuring gaze of Athena and, to his shock, found... delight in there.

She flashed a sudden grin, pulling a folded piece of paper from her bag. It were notes, seemingly written on the back of a receipt.

"I, too, did some investigating, Mr. Wright!"

Mr. Wright blinked, a small sign of surprise which would have gone unnoticed by anyone who didn't own a magical bracelet. "You did? What did you do, Athena?" At least Apollo wasn't the only one in here who was completely clueless...

"I called the hospital and asked for a complete list of Mr. Gavin's symptoms. Then, me and Junie went to the library and read every book about Zitraine we could find!"

Deep breaths. Calm down. Don't scream. Just calmly ask her: "WHAT DID YOU FIND!?" Oh. Well, that hadn't worked.

"Relax, Apollo. I found that Zitraine, if ingested, causes weakness, followed by unconciousness. That's because it attacks the muscles, including the cardiac muscle! In high doses, it weakens them to the point where the heart stops beating, thus causing death. But even when only a small dose is ingested, it still takes a very long time until the muscles regain their full strength!"

She checked her notes, placing one hand on her hip as she did so. Apollo felt his hands clench. There had to be something good in there. She was so happy. She'd found something, right? _Right_?

"Now, if we look at Mr. Gavin's symptoms, everything seems fine at first. His muscles were as relaxed as they should be. But then the nurse said something _very_ interesting..."

" _Yes_?!"

Athena made a short pause for dramatic effect, then slammed her hands down onto the table. It cracked loudly.

"She said that his muscles _stayed_ in this relaxed state much longer than they should have! In order for him to be that weak for that long, he'd have to take a lethal dose of Zitraine!"

Apollo furrowed his brow. So what? Klavier wasn't dead, so that was impossible. Meaning... what exactly? He looked over to Mr. Wright, instantly feeling extremely dumb. The other man had clearly gotten whatever Athena was trying to say and was standing with his mouth and eyes opened wide is surprise and disbelief.

"That... no. There has to be a mistake there. It that nurse trustworthy?!"

"Actually, she said she knows you, Mr. Wright, so... yeah, I think so. Her name was Birdie or..."

"B-Byrde? Maggey Byrde?"

"Yeah! Exactly! So you do know her?!"

Mr. Wright stared at the table, where Athena's powerful hands had left a crack. "Yes. Yes, I do... and I know she is trustworthy. But that would mean..."

"Mean _what_?!"

Apollo hadn't meant to yell, but his chords of steel got the better of him. Now he was trying his best to look angry, an attempt utterly ruined by the fact that his face was starting to turn red from embarrassment. " _Please_. I... don't really..."

Do do _do_ dodo dododo **do** _dot dot dot_ _ **doooooo**_ do do do do dodo...

"AH! Excuse me, my phone..."

Great. Of course they were interrupted now. Apollo even tried to get Athena to tell him anyway, but she refused to, shushing him while pointing at Mr. Wright.

" _Be quiet!_ "

Apollo was so upset, he didn't even listen to the phonecall. That is. unless...

"Excuse me, _WHAT_?! REPEAT THAT!"

Followed by several minutes of frantic, panicked yelling. But once both Athena and Apollo had come to terms with not knowing what was going on, Mr. Wright suddenly got very, very quiet.

"...I... understand. Thank you, Detective."

Then he turned and Apollo froze. The look on his face would have been enough to make Widget flatline. It wasn't angry, sad or scared. It was blank. It was expressionless. And his voice was just as empty as his expression as he raised it and said: "There... has been another poison victim at the prosecutor's building."

He swallowed hard, clenching his fists as he stared down at his feet.

"It's... Edgeworth. Edgeworth's been poisoned."


	6. Chapter 6

January 04, 10:31 AM

Dye-Young Hospital

Room 09

#

Athena wanted to give Mr. Wright a hug. He did need one. But as she saw him there, kneeling on the floor holding his rival's hand, she couldn't bring herself to approach him. There was an aura of sadness surrounding him and she didn't dare to intrude.

Apollo seemingly agreed with her there, as he, too, didn't say a word, just stood there staring at his feet.

It had taken them an entire day to determine Mr. Edgeworth's situation. Yet again, there hadn't been a death. But now the public was going crazy. Not only had another prosecutor been poisoned, it had been the Chief Prosecutor himself! And no matter how scared and fearful the members of the general public were... the prosecutors were even more panicked. They'd asked Mr. Debeste to accompany them on their trip to the hospital, but had been out of luck - the poor man was trying his hardest to keep the office from shattering into pieces. Most prosecutors had left the office early and had refused to come back. The rest was displaying an amazing interplay of hypochondria and paranoia. Even Blackquill was checking his soba for poison.

Although Athena was rather certain she knew what had happened and if she was right, the rest of the office was not in danger. Unless, of course, one of them decided to run through Edgeworth's office and...

Oh, darn. Sebastian.

No, wait. Who was going to be the prosecutor in charge? Definitely not Mr. Sebastian. He was so busy already, but...

She tried to remember what he'd said on the phone. Both Gaspen Payne and Winston Payne - whoever _that_ was - had left the office to go home for the day, so that ruled them out. Prosecutor Gavin and Mr. Edgeworth were unconcious. Leaving only Sebastian and Blackquill. So, was it Simon, then? Hopefully. Poor Sebastian had enough to do as it was.

Edgeworth hadn't ingested as much Zitraine as Mr. Gavin had. He was going to wake up soon, at least that's what the nurse had said. Apparently she and Mr. Wright really knew each other. In fact, his heart had skipped a beat or two when he'd noticed the simple engagement ring around her finger. Ooh, maybe her boss was in _love_?! She _had_ to ask Trucy about this later!

But right now, his sadness was overpowering it all. The urge to hug him grew by the minute.

She was surrounded by sadness lately, it seemed. Apollo was down because of Mr. Gavin. Mr. Wright was down because of Mr. Edgeworth. When Mr. Wright was down, Trucy was down, too. And even Juniper had been coughing more that usual. Perhaps she'd simply caught the flu, most likely from Hugh. She was so worried about him, poor Junie. Athena had even planned to join her and visit him together later, but now, with another poisoned prosecutor at their hands, that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

She fingered around in her pocket and found the receipt with her notes on. While Mr. Wright was lost in thoughts, she could fill Apollo in on her idea...

"Apollo?"

He winced and his heartbeat sped up. "A-athena?!"

"Calm down, Apollo. I just wanted to explain my theory to you. You asked, remember?"

He relaxed again, leaning against the wall behind him.

"Oh, yeah. So your theory still works, even though Mr. Edgeworth's been poisoned, too?"

She smiled, crossing her arms. "Actually, that makes it more likely. Remember when you said that Mr. Edgeworth took some of the evidence with him?"

"Yes... the stuff that wasn't important because..."

"Because of the timing, exactly. And remember how I said that Mr. Gavin's muscles stayed weak much longer than expected?"

"Yes, but..."

"He obviously didn't take a lethal dose, he isn't dead. So, I think... I think..."  
Alright, theory time. Why was she nervous? This wasn't a courtroom.

"I think that maybe he fainted before the poison even started to work. You know, for an _unrelated_ reason! Stress, lack of sleep, lack of sugar, whatever! And the poison didn't take effect until after we found him!"

Part of her expected Apollo to laugh at her, to shake his head and explain how she had misunderstood everything... or maybe to shout OBJECTION and point out a contradiction. But instead, he actually considered it, staying silent for a while before saying: "...The package..."

Huh? But he ignored her and kept talking, more to himself than anything: "Stamps, like with Drew Misham. Make-Up. Lipstick and nail polish. Mugs. You put those to your mouth. And... the pens..."

He bit his lip, then looked up to her: "Does Klavier chew on his pens?"

She shrugged, how was she supposed to know? But that made sense, that made sense...

"And Mr. Edgeworth...", she started, but Apollo took the words from her: "...wears gloves when handling evidence, but he keeps them on when he makes notes and he..."

He hesitated and Athena used the chance to steal her sentence back: "...licks his fingers to turn the pages!"

Oh. Oh, that... that explained everything, actually.

They had to tell Mr. Wright. But he was still sitting there, a little lump of sadness stroking his rival's palm and _oh, forget it..._

Athena's arms were around him in a heartbeat and he tensed up... then relaxed as he recognized her. Neither of them said anything and Apollo didn't interrupt, so they just sat together, Athena embracing her own boss for about ten whole minutes. Finally, Mr. Wright gently pushed her away and got up.

"Thank you, Athena. I... I needed that."

"Yes, I know..."

He looke down at Edgeworth and sighed. "I have to know who did this. And why. And... how."

"Actually, boss..."

They explained to them what they had figured out together. Mr. Wright didn't say a single word, but he nodded once they were done.

"So, that package might be important after all! We should... I mean, the police should check for poison!"

They left Apollo behind in the hospital. Oh, sure, he said he wanted to stay only a little longer, but his short glance down the hallway towards room 18 told her more than a thousand words. Maybe prosecutor Gavin would enjoy the company. Maybe he'd wake up, one could never know. Besides, if it soothed Apollo's aching soul...

Thus, she and Mr. Wright left together to head for the prosecutor's building once more.

#

January 04, 11:01 AM

Dye-Young Hospital

Room 18

#

Apollo kind of missed Athena. Maybe she would have been able to tell him what he was feeling.

Fear? Not really, just the underlying terror that had plagued him ever since they'd found Klavier. Sadness? No. That was worrying, actually. Wasn't he supposed to feel something like that. Wait, was he? There was no happiness, but that was probably normal. What about the lack of anger? Was _that_ normal?

Gratitude. Yeah, that was something to focus on. Gratitude towards nurse Byrde for ignoring all her orders and allowing him to see Klavier out of the blue like that. Perhaps he'd send her a gift. Flowers? No, she was engaged, she wore a ring, didn't want to cause any trouble with that. Besides, sending flowers to a hospital for the nurse? Was that weird?

God, his mind was going crazy. His hand had been on the door handle for almost two minutes now without moving. Darn it, this was...

Just go in there, will you?

He wasn't sure what he had expected. Nothing had changed since his last visit. Actually, yes: Klavier's hair was more orderly now. It had been quite wavy the last time. Now it was completely straight, a side effect of not being twisted into a drill-like shape. He looked so different... had it not been for his tanned skin, he would have been really hard to recognize... Wait. Tanned skin? He'd been a lot more pale the last time...

...Was that a good sign? It had to be! Apollo felt a smile coming on. Was he happy now? A little. Klavier...

Someone must have washed him, because he smelled of soap. Whoever that someone had been, they'd also brushed his hair and were most likely the person who'd placed his cleaned clothes on the bedside table. They looked weirdly lost without the prosecutor wearing them...

His suit jacket in that weird purple-pink color which Apollo somewhat associated with him by now. His black shirt, the collar in place for one. His pants, and for some reason Apollo blushed at seeing them. He wanted to smack himself for that. Blushing, really? At a pair of pants? Although they did look way too small for Gavin, especially as they were made from leather, just like his shoes. Leave it to Klavier to vacuum seal his own legs... Jewelery, chains, rings, ear rings and a piercing, taken from an unidentified location. His necklace was on top of the heap and Apollo picked it up without really knowing why.

It was cold, hard metal and somehow that... surprised him? No, not surprise. He still hadn't managed to get a grip on his emotions... disappoint? Yes. It disappointed him. Why?

As he put it back, his hands brushed against something and it took him a second, but then...

There was something in Klavier's pocket!

Almost instantly, Apollo's hands were all over Klavier's pants and as he reached into the pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper, he felt his heart stop for a second.

A small, yellow piece of paper with something written on it.

Another one.

#

January 04, 11:48 PM

Prosecutor's Building

10th Floor

#

Athena had been in the prosecutor's building before, but only ever to visit Blackquill. As his office was on the 10th floor, she had to rely on her boss to guide her to Mr. Edgeworth's office on the 12th floor. As of now, they stood in the elevator together. There was an awkward silence there which neither of them dared to break.

She hoped that her theory was correct. If it wasn't, if Mr. Gavin and Mr. Edgeworth had been poisoned seperatly, it meant that someone was targeting prosecutors and _then..._

What little she knew about Sebastian had made her like him. Knowing that his life might be in danger... Heck, she was even a little worried about Mr. Payne But of course, the main target of her worries...

God, what was she thinking? Simon wasn't foolish enough to endanger himself like that. Surely he'd check food and beverages before eating or drinking anything. Surely he would take care of himself. But it took so little! Touching something covered in Zitraine, then... licking his fingers to turn a page, just like she suspected Mr. Edgeworth had done. Or maybe put them in his mouth to whistle for Taka. That was possible. That was even possible if her theory _was_ right. The deadly package was still in Mr. Edgeworth's office, after all! What if, what if...

Her mind was a wreck. Part of it was panicking. Part of it was yelling at the first part to make it stop panicking. Part was busy creating 'what if' scenarios that would lead to the death of not only Blackquill, Sebastian and Payne, but also Trucy, Apollo, Mr. Wright, Juniper. And one part was feeling rather guilty. She had no right to be so upset. _Her_ friend and rival hadn't been poisoned... yet.

Yet.

 _Yet._

STOP IT!

In moments like this, it would have been nice if there'd been someone else capable of using the Mood Matrix. Someone sorting her emotions out, putting an end to this nonsense. That would have been nice, yes. But... but...

 _But_! But what?! What was she even trying to think about?!

Breathe in, breathe out. Her hands were playing with her ear ring, If Apollo'd been here, his bracelet would have probably crushed his arm right about now...

Breathe. Relax. The elevator doors slid open and they stepped out, still silent. Breathe. Focus. Focus on something that wasn't horrible.

Focus. _Focus_...

 _CRACK_!

She stopped. What had that noise been?! It had sounded like... like... like?

Next to her, Mr. Wright had stopped. She could hear his heartbeat, much faster than before. His face showed fear, shock and... delight?

"Mr. Wright? What was that noise?"

But he didn't react. Only when Athena touched his shoulder did he move again. Well, maybe 'move' wasn't the right way to put it. 'Wince in terror' was more fitting. "AAH!"

"AH! I'm sorry, Mr. Wright! I just..."

He tried to smile, even though he was shaking. "N-no, it's all right. I simply recognized that sound. You, ah... should probably keep your head low when we go in there. And start carrying a first-aid kit around."

"W-what? Boss, what... what do you mean?"

"I think I know which prosecutor is in charge here."

That was all he said. But as the came closer to room 1202, the cracking sounded again, followed by a loud, angry voice shouting: "FOOL!"

"Yep, that's definitely her. Stay behind me, okay? I think I'm somewhat responsible if you get hurt on the job."

"H-hurt?! Mr. Wright, what..."

He opened the door.

Athena had expected to come face to face with some otherworldly horror, a monster of some kind or maybe a creepy, muscular person with scars all over their face. But instead, she saw a young woman with short, silver-blue hair and grey eyes. But she also saw the source of the weird noise: the whip that the woman was holding in her gloved hands.

Then the woman noticed them and smacked the innocent ground with her whip as she turned and grinned at them.

"Phoenix Wright! I was starting to worry about your whereabouts."

He gave her a sheepish grin and Athena notices sweat drops on his forehead. Was he really... intimidated by this woman? Surely she wouldn't actually use that whip against a human... right?

R-right?  
"So you expected me to show up? I should have known you would..."

"Hmpf. You are a foolish fool, Phoenix Wright, and my foolish brother has foolishly choosen to let you become a part of his life. A foolish desicion as only a fool would make, but he has made it and you, Phoenix Wright, have the foolish tendency to get overly worried about the fools you call friends. Thus, any intelligent person would expect you to show up here."

What.

"Now, who is the young lady following you? I demand to be introduced."

The fool formerly known as Phoenix Wright obeyed instantly, pulling Athena through the door and awkwardly pointing at her: "This is Athena Cykes. She's a lawyer and works for me."

The woman reached out and offered Athena a handshake. She took it and was met with the firmest, most determined handshake she'd ever come across.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Athena Cykes. I am Franziska von Karma and I am the prosecutor in charge of finding the hapless fool who dared to poison my little brother."


	7. Chapter 7

January 04, 12:08 PM

Prosecutor's Building

Chief Prosecutor's office

#

Athena blinked. Younger brother? This woman didn't look older than Mr. Edgeworth. And generally: Brother? Mr. Edgeworth had a sister? But she didn't say anything. Didn't want to be at the receiving end of that whip. Luckily, Ms. von Karma had turned her attention back to Mr. Wright.

"Now, you may stand by and watch if you desperately desire to do so, but don't you dare to disturb my investigation! Scruffy is fetching the forensic scientist as we speak. I do belive he will hurry, lest he will get to feel my whip." So that thing was meant to be used on humans? Yikes! That woman was... completely, utterly insane!

"I understand. Thank you, Ms. von Karma. We appreciate it."

"Hmpf. Don't mention it."

There were no policemen at the scene, Athena noticed. According to Apollo, there had been an entire brigarde of detectives and policemen in Mr. Gavin's office. But here, there was no one but this woman. Phoenix noticed her surprise and bend down to whisper: "Ms. von Karma works with interpol, so she's well-trained when it comes to investigating. She really only needs a detective and maybe a forensics expert."

Speaking of forensics: at that moment, the door opened and in came Ema Skye, followed by Detective Gumshoe. Ms. von Karma threw a short look at the clock on the wall, then made a clicking noise with her tongue: "Seven minutes. That is... acceptable." And Athena could feel an aura of relief radiating from the detective as he saluted weakly. "Yes, Sir."

Ema was wearing her glasses, yet again looking over the rim as she took a look around. She didn't say anything, just instantly went to work spraying testing fluid all over the room. She was angry, one didn't need Athena's sharp sense of hearing to know that.

" _Why are you so angry_ ", Widget squealed and Athena tried to silence him, but it was too late, Ema had heard it already and gave a barking laugh.

"Why?! Hah! It was bad enough when the fop got poisoned, but whoever dared to lay hands on Mr. Edgeworth is going to regret it, I'll make _sure_ of that." There was venom dripping from her words as she said them, harshly spitting them out as if they tasted bad.

"You can count me in on that, pal!", yelled Gumshoe. The next second, he threw his hands over his mouth in shock and eyed Ms. von Karma. Luckily, she seemed do agree with him. "Then we will make them regret it together, as I will not hold back my whip once I find that sorry fool."

Phoenix nodded. "We will do our very best, too." Athena couldn't agree more.

"Uh, Ms. Skye? Do you think you could check the package over there?"

Ema shook her spray can. "You mean this one? Wasn't that from when... the fop... was..."

She went silent. Then, after a few seconds, she sprayed.

The forensic investigator hesitated, then held her glasses up so the others could see through them. One glance was enough.

"That package is dripping with Zitraine, pal! That's got to be it!"

"And it was for the fop, so that would make scientific sense, too! Oh, but the timing..."

"Makes sense too, Ms. Skye!" And so, Athena explained her theory yet again. Once she was done, everyone seemed to agree with it. Mr. Wright looked quite proud of her, in fact.

"Then we must know who send this package! Step aside."

Franziska took the box and turned it to read the address. Then she scoffed.

"Well, whoever send this does not have an ounce of german in him. This entire address is wrong. It should be all german or all english, not this horrendous mix. However, it is for Mr. Gavin, so I assume it's to be expected. His fans are no better at German than he is."

"I doubt it was a fan, Ms. von Karma. Fans do not try to murder their idols."

 _CRACK!_

Athena shrieked and Phoenix screamed in shock and pain as the whip connected with his skin.

"OOOOOWWWWWWW"

"Phoenix Wright! I will not have you make fun of me like this!"

Her boss held his shoulder in agony and Athena couldn't belive it. The screams, both Mr. Wright's and her own, still rang in her ears as she ducked behind him. Defuse the situation, dear god! Say something!

"I always thought that Mr. Gavin was fluent in German", she managed to squeal. "I-I mean, I read things he wrote and..." Her voice got faster as von Karma looked in her general direction. Luckily, the prosecutor didn't raise her whip again. She jsut shrugged.

"True, he has a good grasp on the written word, but his pronounciation is horrible. Besides, he would not last one minute in Germany if he were to run around calling people 'Fräulein' like that."

She laughed and Athena heard the power in her voice. "I see there is no sender written on here. We will have to ask the security guard on duty." Oh. Athena hoped to god that it wasn't the guy Apollo had mentioned yesterday.

#

January 04, 12:19 PM

Prosecutor's Building

Security room

#

It was the guy Apollo had mentioned yesterday.

"FRANZYYYY! And Nick! Hey, Nick! What'ya doing here and who's the cute lady?"

"Uh..." Great. How to react now? "Uhm... Athena. Athena Cykes. I'm a lawyer. I work at the Wright Anything Agency."

"Oh, you mean like Apollo? You're so lucky, Nick!", Larry beamed. Then a sharp _CRACK_ sounded yet again, stricking the wall just a few centimeters away from his head.

"Mr. Butz, none of your usual foolishly foolish actions now! We wish to get information and we will get it."

"Aw, but Franzy, you know I'll give you all the info you need. Hey, did you read 'Franzy's Whippity Whip Trip' yet? It got real popular!"

Athena vaguely recalled a book of that name. She hadn't bought it, but she's seen it at a local bookstore. Now that she thought of it, the woman on the cover _had_ looked very similar to Franziska von Karma, so... was she the 'Franzy' who starred in that book? Her question was answered only seconds later, when Franziska's whip struck the ground once more: "Had I known you would continue to pester me with it, I would never have agreed to model for that book of yours! Now shut your mouth and give us information."

"Sure! What... OOOOWW!"

"I told you to be silent!"

"B-but..."

He actually managed to dodge the whip this time and, sobbing loudly, managed to yell: "YOU DIDN'T TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT YEEEEET!"

Silence. Franziska tried very hard to stay collected. She didn't look anyone in the eyes. Phoenix was making a funny face as he tried not to laugh, knowing fully well that doing so would net him a mouth full of whip.

"Ahem... Larry, we need to know who send the gift to Mr. Gavin yesterday. It was used to poison Mr. Gavin, the poisoning case that Edgeworth got caught up in and..."

The man suddenly went very, very quiet.

"Uhm... are you okay...?"

"You shoulda told me that straight away. I want you to catch the jerk who did this to Edgey."

With that, he pulled a piece of paper from a messy stack of documents and handed it over.

"Here. That has all the info we've got about that package. It was send by a shipping company named Globetime. If you want, I'll call and ask who ordered it."

His voice was serious now. Athena was not the only one who was surprised: Ms. von Karma took a step back and almost dropped her whip. Meanwhile, Mr. Wright's mouth had fallen open and showed no signs of closing.

"You... L-larry? Are you feeling okay...?"

"WHAT?! Can't I just care about Edgey?! I don't like that there's a guy running around trying to kill prosecutors, yeah!? Especially not the ones I'm friends with!"

"Very well, then. However, I will be the one to call this company. If I may have the phone, Mr. Butz?"

He handed her the phone without complaining and actually read the number out to her as she dialed. While she explained the situation to whoever she had called, Larry managed to pull Mr. Wright into a discussion about that book of his, which left Athena with nothing to do. Part of her wanted to go back up to join Ema and Gumshoe in their investigation, but then again, she really wanted to know what Ms. von Karma would find out. Uunghn...

At that moment, her phone beeped, tearing her away from her thoughts.

#

 _Apollo, 12:23: Athena. How's the investigation going?_

 _Athena, 12:23: We were right! They found Zitraine all over that package!_

 _Athena, 12:23: BTW, can you pick up some ointment on your way home? The kind that's used for wounds and burns._

 _Apollo, 12:24: What?! What happened?!_

 _Athena, 12:24: Met the prosecutor in charge. I'll tell you more later. She's calling a shipping company right now to figure out who send that gift_

 _Athena, 12:24: What about you?_

 _Apollo, 12:25: I found something. Remember when I told you about the note Mr. Gavin wrote?_

 _Athena, 12:25: Yes. What about it?_

 _Apollo, 12:25: I found another one._

 _Apollo, 12:26: It was in his pocket. It's in German, so I need you to translate._

 _Athena, 12:26: Sure. Want to send it over?_

 _Apollo, 12:27: Hold on. I'm typing._

 _Apollo, 12:27: Kinda hard to read. Might take a few minutes._

 _Athena, 12:28: No problem. I'll check it out later!_

#

When Athena looked up again, Ms. von Karma had finished her call and was handing the phone back to Larry. Then she turned, with a wide smirk on her face.

"Very well. It appears that we now have the full name and address of the woman who send this deadly gift."

"We have?!"

"Sweet! Great job, Franzy, perfect as always!" _CRACK_ "OOOOWWWWWW!"

She crossed her arm, completely ignoring the wailing man clutching his injured leg. "We have. This gift was send by...", she stood up straight and strong and then it came...

"...Juniper Woods, living on Pine Street Nr. 1!"

" _ **NO!**_ "

Her scream scared even herself, yet she screamed again, and again. Louder, louder, to tune out the words that could not be true. That was wrong. That had to be wrong! It had to... it, it had to... it had to be wrong! IT HAD TO BE WRONG! Still screaming. Something hit her. She ignored it. Kept screaming. Kept yelling. Kept denying. Maybe if she kept denying it, it would go away. Go away, disappear. Stop being a possibility. Stop _existing_.

No no no no no no no nonononononono...

"Athena!"

nonononononononono _nonononononononono..._

"Athena Cykes!"

 _nonononononoNONONONONO_ _ **NONO**_ **NO...**

"Hey, are you all right?"

Stop _stop_ _STOP_!

...didn't kill her! His heart is screaming that he didn't...

Stay silent dammit! That was more than seven years ago!

...kill her! Please, you have to...

Blood, death, pain, _betrayal_...

...listen to me!

 _Helplessness..._

 **Please listen to me!**

"ATHENA!"

Her eyes snapped open and she came to meet the gaze of... of? Brown eyes, who had brown eyes... not Simon, not Aura, not mother, Junie had brown eyes but this voice was male and Junie wasn't male, Junie was a girl...

"Hey, you all right? C'mon man, say something!"

...this wasn't a girl, this was... was...

"Careful, Larry, maybe you should put her down..."

"Although I must admit that it was quite an admirable catch, Mr. Butz. Now if only your foolish brain was as quick as your reflexes."

Larry? Butz... Larry Butz? Who was...

Not in a courtroom. Not in a courtroom, not in the robotics lab, not covered in blood, not eleven years old. All grown up, a lawyer, in the prosecutors building along with Mr. Wright, Ms. von Karma and Larry Butz. Safe, sure, secure. And just now, Juniper had been accused of sending poison to Mr. Gavin. She hadn't, of course she hadn't. What a dumb thing to panic over.

Larry gently placed her on the floor and only now did she realize that she'd collapsed. Had he caught her? She tried to acknowledge that somehow, but failed to even nod at him. Her head was going to explode. Somewhere to her left, Mr. Wright was discussing something with von Karma, but even her sharp ears failed to hear a single word. She had to help Juniper!

"J...Junie...", she managed to get out and both Mr. Wright and Ms. von Karma were silent immediately. "Junie..."

Slowly, she sat up and tried to focus on her boss. "Mr... Mr. Wright... there has to be a mistake there! Junie can't be a criminal, she'd never... she'd never!" Aaand now she was crying...

"Relax, Athena. We'll figure out the truth behind this all." He turned to Franziska. "Ms. von Karma, I believe that the school days at the Themis Legal Academy doesn't end until two o'clock. We can go there and talk to Ms. Woods, if you wish."

"Yes, we may do so. Thank you for your aid, Mr. Butz. Phoenix Wright, Athena Cykes, you will accompany me."


	8. Chapter 8

January 04, 12:43 PM

Themis Legal Academy

Classroom No. 8

#

Heads turned as Phoenix, Franziska and Athena entered the classroom. Phoenix supposed that it was just natural. They were right in the middle of class, after all. Students on the way of becoming judges were staring at the three people who'd barged in. There were quite a lot of them, he noted. With slight amusement he looked at Myriam Scuttlebutt, who wore her box even in class. But then his eyes set on Juniper, wide-eyed and innocent and his stomach began to ache. One quick glance over to Athena. She seemed to have calmed, but there were still tears in her eyes. Phoenix could only hope that she would be all right.

Franziska had taken the lead; of course she had, she was Franziska von Karma. But at least that meant Phoenix wouldn't have to be the one to question Juniper. Wouldn't have to act like he belived her to be a criminal.

The teacher, an older woman who Phoenix hadn't seen before, crossed her arms and gave them a stern look. "And who might _you_ be?", she asked, emphasizing the word 'you' as if there was no way they were anything but an annoyance to her. Franziska answered without an ounce of emotion in her voice: "My name is Franziska von Karma and I demand to have a talk with the student Juniper Woods."

"M-me?" Cough, cough. Already the coughing had started. Hopefully Franziska would not be too rough...

The teacher scoffed, perhaps she was suicidal. "And why? I belive that..." _CRACK!_ The whip only hit the teacher's desk, but it still shut her up as Franziska hissed: "I will _not_ be denied by your foolishness! You are standing in the way of the law!"

And with that, she grabbed Juniper by the shoulder and pulled her towards the door. The teacher didn't protest.

Once the door closed behind them, von Karma let go of Juniper and leaned against the wall behind her. Athena tried to give Juniper a comforting smile, but it was clearly forced. Perhaps it was up to Phoenix to do something. "Ms. Woods?"

"Y-yes, Mr. Wright?" Cough.

"Please don't worry. We need to ask you a few questions, that's all, okay?" There. Nice and gentle. But he'd forgotten about Franziska, who wouldn't have understood the meaning of 'gentle' even after attending a ten-hour lecture about it.

"Juniper Woods, you are being accused of the attempted murder of Klavier Gavin! You will tell us everything you know!" Yeah, she'd probably never even heard the word at all. What was the german word for 'gentle'?

And now poor Juniper was having a coughing fit, fingers frantically searching for the sunflowers she used to calm herself. No one said a word as she took a deep breath, sniffing the flowers.

"I... I d-don't... Mr. Wright, please... i didn't do anything... Thena..."

"It's all right, Junie! Just... just tell the truth. We're gonna save you!" Save her? Hopefully that wouldn't be neccessary...

Ms. von Karma had calmed down, too. She was now wrapping her whip around her hand, impatiently tapping her foot.

"Very well, we shall slow down. Do you _know_ Klavier Gavin."

"Y-yes, I do. He... he visited the academy once. I even sung with him!"

"Hm. Interesting. Now, do you know of his current situation?"

Juniper nodded shyly. "Thena told me..."

Phoenix could feel Athena shrink as Franziska threw her an icy glance. "I see. Now, the source of the poison was a package, a gift send to Mr. Gavin. And the person who send this gift is you, Juniper Woods! Or do you deny it?!"

Cough, cough. Cough. "I.. I..." Cough.

"Junie, we... we know it wasn't you, yes? There has to be something wrong here."

"Y-yeah..." Cough. "T-thanks, Thena... I..."

"Ms. Woods, the shipping company claimed that you are the one who send the package. Someone might be using your name to commit crimes, so please, tell us everything you know."

Juniper was quivering. She looked like she was just about to cry. "Committing c-crimes... in my name? To k-kill... Mr. G-gavin? But why would..."

"We do not know that yet." Franziska's voice could have frozen lava. "But... if it turns out that you are the one at fault, then...", and she whipped the ground in front of Juniper, who stumbled back in shock. Athena caught her before she could fall.

Franziska just kept talking anyway. She was angry, angry and worried. It was just natural, he guessed. He'd met Juniper before, he knew she was no murderer, but Ms. von Karma had no way of knowing that. Of course she'd be angry. Of course she'd be desperate to find the person who was responsible for her brother getting poisoned. But still, poor Juniper...

He opened his mouth to interrupt her, but in the end, someone else was faster.

"OBJECTION, MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!"

Robin Newman, who'd shown up out of absolutely nowhere. Where had she come from and why hadn't he seen her?!

Athena visibly relaxed. Perhaps she considered Robin to be backup that had just arrived, help in defending Juniper. "Oh, Robin..."

"R-robin..." The coughing stopped and Robin gave a cheerful grin, raising one finger to punctuate her next sentence with.

"Yelling at Juniper is not very N-I-C-E, Miss!"

She hadn't changed a bit. Phoenix almost expected her to throw pottery at them.

Franziska, however, seemed unsure of how to deal with the situation. She stood there in silence for a while, trying to get behind the strage person who'd gotten in her way. Eventually, she decided to do it courtroom-style: "Name and occupation?"

Surprisingly enough, Robin chose to play along. "Robin Newman. I am studying to be a P-R-O-S-E-C-U-T-O-R."

"Very well. Now explain the reason for your objection!"

"Well... you can't just go and accuse Juniper like that."

"Oh? And why not?"

"BECAUSE SHE DIDN'T DO IT, MAAAAAN!"

 _CRACK!_ "Stop with this foolishness!"

"Hey! You can't whip me, MAN! And you can't accuse Juniper! That's what, the third time now?"

Juniper nodded and Franziska stared at her. Then she turned to Phoenix: "Phoenix Wright, what _is_ it about you that causes young women to get accused of murder?"

"Hey, don't pin the blame on me!" Although, now that he thought about it... Maya, Maggey, Juniper, Ema, Athena... Pearls had yet to be accused...

"Really, I am surprised that I have yet to stand trial! Perhaps it would be better for this world if you ceased to interact with women under the age of thirty!"

"H-Hey!"

"WHATEVER, MAN!" Franziska actually winced. Perhaps the exposure to Apollo had resulted in Phoenix' ears getting used to screaming? Either that, or he was getting deaf from it.

"The important part is, there is no way Juniper did ANYTHING BAD! YOU HEAR ME!? Junie's N-O-T G-U-I-L-T-Y."

And she threw her arms around Juniper in the most masculine girly hug Phoenix had ever seen. But von Karma did not say anything and he was relived to see Juniper smile, weak, but sincere.

"Thank you, Robin", cough, "I... I'm just so glad you belive..."

"I belive you too, Junie!" Athena clenched her fists in determination, ready to fight anyone who'd get in her way. Up until now, Phoenix had belived that von Karma was in charge here. Now he wasn't so sure anymore. What he _was_ sure of, however, was that he didn't want to be anywhere near a fight between Athena and Franziska. Lives would be taken.

"T-thanks, Thena. I... I dont know who send that package, but... I know it wasn't me..."

KA-CHING!

Phoenix felt somewhat guilty for not being surprised. There, in front of him, stood Juniper Woods with five red Psychelocks on her heart.

"I am very sorry, Ms. Woods, but I can't belive you." His hands found the Magatama in his pocket and closed around it.

"W-WHAT?! Mr... Mr. Wright! I... but you know Junie, she..."

"...is lying and knows it.", he said, as calm as he could. This wasn't the first time a client - when had she become a client? - had shown Psychelocks. She was hiding something, but that didn't mean that she was a criminal or a killer. She was just... hiding something. Pulling the Magatama from his pocket, he sighed. "Ms. Woods, I belive in your innocence, but if you want me to prove it, you must be honest with me. Did you send a package to Mr. Gavin or not?"

"I... I... I didn't..." cough, cough. Cough. "D-didn't... send..." Cough.

As she fell into another violent coughing fit, Phoenix shook his head. He had no evidence, only words from whoever Franziska had called. That might be a problem. Still, he had to start somewhere.

"Then, why were we told that you are the sender? Please, Ms. Woods. Tell the truth."

"But... that is the" cough "truth! I wouldn't..." cough "I like Mr. G-gavin..." Okay, no. He had to be a little more... gentle here. No being rough on Juniper. Taking a step back, he gave her a smile.

"All right. Could you tell me about your relationship with Mr. Gavin?"

The new approach was working. Not only did Juniper's breathing normalize - well, for a very broad definiton of 'normal' - but Athena and Robin no longer looked as if they were about to punch him.

"Like I s-said... I sung with him during the school festival... I was really sad when his band broke up, I always liked their music..."

"So you're a Gavinners fan?"

"Y-yes... and Mr. Gavin was very nice to me, too. I never wanted to hurt him..."

Jackpot.

"You never 'wanted to hurt him'? Please forgive me if I'm wrong, but to me that sounds like you did end up hurting him."

"AAHH!"

CRACK! This time it wasn't the whip making the sound; it was the first Psychelock shattering as Juniper reeled back in shock, eyes wide. "No! N-no! No, that... that isn't true! I... I didn't! I didn't mean to..."

"Didn't mean to do _what_?" CRACK! Two down.

"T... to..."

Juniper fell silent. Both Franziska and Robin opened their mouths, but Phoenix shushed them. Somehow, that didn't result in him getting pelted with pottery or whipped into shreds. They simply stayed quiet.

Finally, Juniper managed to squeal: "To... nothing. I just m-misspoke, I... I didn't..."

Von Karma came to his aid. "The shipping company not only gave us your name. They gave us your exact address. Now, would your address be Pine Street Nr. 1?"

No answer. "Hmpf. Phoenix Wright? Is that her address?"

He didn't even know. "Athena?"

She looked down. Then she nodded.

CRACK! That was the third one, but she wasn't ready to give up yet. "But why... why would I hurt Mr. Gavin? I... I _like_ him..."

She did, didn't she? And Juniper was no murderer, Phoenix was certain of that. But then... why had she... Why had she? It didn't made any sense and he had absolutely no evidence.

He'd have given his arm for some help. Well, maybe not his arm, he needed that to point at people. But he would be willing to sacrifice an ear for Athena's Mood Matrix or Trucy's and Apollo's tell-telling right about now. However, Apollo wasn't here and Athena looked as if a single false word would cause her to start sobbing.

Maybe he'd give it a try himself. He'd read the case files, dammit, what was Juniper's tell again? Clutching her shoulder? No... no, clutching her arm, her wrist! And... right now, right here, she was rubbing her wrist.

There'd been a reason behind this tell, hadn't there? Ah yes. Their 'proof of friendship'. Bracelets for Juniper and Robin and a choker for Hugh. And if Athena's words could be trusted, Myriam had recently gotten a matching ring around her index finger.

She was clutching that bracelet for comfort, right? Or...

Robin, Myriam, Hugh... Robin was standing right there, perfectly fine, and he'd seen Myriam attending class mere minutes ago. But Hugh...

He latched onto the possibility like a desperate vampire.

"Say, is Mr. O'Conner still dealing with his flu?"

"W-What?! H-he...", cough, cough, cough, "he i-is, he..." cough, "he's been sick for", cough, "s...six d-days now...", cough, cough. Cough.

He was on the right path, he knew it. Only two more locks.

"If I remember correctly, Mr. O'Conner is retaking his tests right now?"

She wanted to answer, but her cough got worse as soon as she opened her mouth. As she sniffed her sunflower, Robin decided to answer in her stead: "Yeah, MAN, he's been B-U-S-Y lately. Working day and night", and with a frown, she added, "He hardly hangs out with us anymore. Just doesn't have the time."

"Really? It's surprising, then, that he'd stay away from school for six days in a row. Wouldn't he come back as soon as possible?"

CRACK! Four down. One to go. C'mon, Phoenix...

"He... he's really sick..." But there was no certainty in her voice.

"No, Ms. Woods. I don't think he's sick. I think he is the reason you attempted to poison Mr. Gavin."

CRACK!

And Juniper broke into tears.

"J-Junie!"

"Juniper!"

Both Athena and Robin rushed in to wrap their arms around their friend. Franziska rolled up her whip and stepped closer. "If this Hugh O'Conner has forced you to perform a criminal act, then you won't..."

"STOP IT, MAN! FIRST YOU ACCUSE JUNIPER, NOW HUGH?! YOU NEED TO SHUT YOUR..."

"O-order!"

And heads turned, turned towards Juniper who, due to the lack of a gavel, had struck the wall with her fist. There were still tears, but she looked collected now. "Please... follow me. I'll... I'll show you..."

With that, she turned and walked down the hallway. No one stopped her as she made her way down into the entrance hall, where the lockers stood. There, she took out her keys and unlocked one of the lockers, quietly talking as she did so.

"I... I got that package five days ago, fully wrapped and adressed to the prosecutor's building, along with a letter. It said 'Read First' on the envelope, so I d-didn't open the package... and if I had, I'd probably have gotten poison on my fingers... and then I'd be..."

Her voice broke, but she closed her eyes and managed to keep speaking as she searched for something in her locker: "So I opened the letter and... I found _this_..."

Turning around, she held out a piece of paper and a photograph. There was something written on the paper, but Phoenix couldn't read it from where he stood. But he could see the picture.

Hugh O'Conner, tied up and gagged.


	9. Chapter 9

January 04, 02:36 PM

Themis Legal Academy

Entrance Hall

#

It was Franziska who took the paper out of Juniper's shivering hands and read it, first silently for herself, then out loud for the lot of them.

" _To the honorable Miss Juniper Woods._

 _I regret to inform you that the student knows as Hugh O'Conner is currently in my posession. I advise you to stay calm and follow the orders I will give you._

 _This letter has reached you along with a box. DO NOT OPEN IT. Your only job is to mail this box to the address written on it. Fulfill this task and your friend will not be harmed. However, should you attempt to open this box, refuse to send it or alert the police, I'm afraid I will have to end Mr. O'Conner's life. I trust that you will make the correct choice._ "

She looked down at the text. "I see. Under this circumstances, I admit that your choice of action was understandable."

Phoenix felt faint.

The scarred face of Matt Engarde flashed before his eyes.

 _And here I was, trying to be a good boy for you..._

Followed by another face, a face split in half by a row of stitches.

 _You don't need to know who I am. I think you have other things to be concerning yourself with... such as..._

And then Maja's voice, the realization and the courtroom, Adrian's tears and her yells, her pleas of innocence, his crumbling faith; he had judged himself for that, judged himself for losing faith in his client _wasn't that the most important part of being a defense attorney_ and when he'd went to make himself feel better, to regain his trust he'd been met by Psychelocks, quickly broken to reveal the monster underneath, guilty as sin. Maya, the girl he knew and cared for and was, in a way, _responsible_ for now that her sister was dead but she knew, she _knew_ about the situation and poor Adrian had been just an bystander, all innocent, not knowing why she was being accused, forced to stand there screaming her innocence, begging, pleading and she'd die, die, _die_ without ever knowing the reason for it but _Maya_...

He knew at that moment that, if anyone would dare to judge Juniper for what she did, he would defend her with all he got and a little more to boot because if he'd been in that situation, just having to pass a package to someone else... he wouldn't even have _hesitated_.

Something brushed against his shoulder and he looked up to find Athena, looking at him with concern on her face.

"Mr. Wright? Are you... are you okay?"

"Y-yes. Yes." He was on the floor. Why was he on the floor?

Slowly, he got up, awkwardly looking over to Juniper. She seemed calm, calmer than he was, but now Robin was quivering with tears in her eyes. "We... we have to help Hugh!", she whispered, "we have to call the police, we..."  
"FOOL!" _CRACK!_ "We can not endanger a hostage's life like that!"

She was right. She was right, of course she was. That was the most sensible course of action. Followed by... what?

"We should get that picture analysed", he said and his tongue felt like wet paper. "Maybe we can figure out where and when it was taken."

"Good thinking, Phoenix Wright. I will take this back to the office with me. You will be alerted, should I find something of interest."

Oh. That was... surprisingly kind of her. He gave her a smile, that was the strongest thing he could master right now. But she understood.

"Ah, and... Juniper Woods? Do not be concerned. As you have fulfilled the task given to you, Hugh O'Conner's life is not in danger. Just relax and let us take care of this. The same goes to you, Robin Newman! Phoenix Wright, Athena Cykes, I will be taking my leave now."

"I'll leave, too", he said and turned to Athena, somehow forcing another smile. "What about you?"

"I, uh... I'll stay a little longer."

"Very well. I'll be in the agency if you need me."

#

January 04, 01:51 PM

Themis Legal Academy

Art Room

#

Unfortunally, Juniper had to return to her classroom, leaving Robin and Athena behind. Robin explained that her teacher had gotten ill on a short note, leaving the prosecutor course with an free hour. As there was nothing else for either of them to do, Athena had followed Robin to the art room and was now watching her mold something from clay. Neither of them said anything. Athena could feel the pain in Robin's heart, but it was painfully obvious that the girl didn't want to talk about anything regarding Hugh and so Athena kept silent. Maybe creating pottery was Robin's way of dealing with Hugh's situation. It had to be a shock, learning about it like that. Sure, it had been a shock for Athena, too, but for Robin, one of Hugh's best friends...

What even was she making... a flower pot?

Ugh, but there was also no other topic she could think off, nothing else to talk about. Thus, she just kept watching. Thinking. And watching.

How late was it, how much longer until Junie's lesson was over? She pulled out her phone to check the time, but what she found instead was a text from Apollo. Oh, yeah, Mr. Gavin's lyrics. She'd forgotten all about that.

#

Apollo, 12:32: _Bruder, lass uns Hände geben_

 _durch das Gitter deiner Welt_

 _bleibe bei mir wenn dein Leben_

 _durch die Tür des Galgens fällt_

 _Bruder, Bruder_

 _Dieser Tage_

 _lass mich deine Tränen sehen_

 _halte mich und lass uns gehen_

 _in des nächsten Lebens Licht..._

 _Nein, alleine stirbst du nicht_

#

She stared at it.

That had to be a joke. That... no. That just had to be a joke. Had Apollo learnt German just to prank her? If so, he'd put a high amount of effort into it because German was difficult. And this... perhaps someone else had written this, slipped it into Mr. Gavin's pocket to hurt him? But why? Why would anyone... make fun of his troubles like that? But if that wasn't the case, if he truly had written it himself, then... then...

 _Then!_

There'd been another one of those, a previous one, right? Right. Surely that note would explain everything. Surely that other note would turn this into something perfectly harmless and normal. Yes.

...

Now she needed that note. She needed it. She had to have it. She had to _know_. Perhaps this was even... no, god no. That was way to complicated and insane, even for someone as... _unique_ as Mr. Gavin. Besides, why would he involve poor Junie? Stupid, to even consider that. This note probably had no connection to this case at all. But... she had to _know_...

How, though? By going to the prosecutor's office? Actually, yes... she could ask Simon! But no, to go there, to talk about this with Mr. Gavin's colleagues... that was an absolute no-go. So, no. But then, what else? The note in question had been with Mr. Edgeworth and Mr. Edgeworth...

 _...wrote everything down in his organizer._

Which had been in his suit when he'd fainted, she just knew that. But was even Miles Edgeworth patient enough to copy an entire note, one which probably had no bearing to the case at hand.

Yes. He was. No need to even ask. And in that case...

"I'm D-O-N-E now! Whatcha think, man?!"

She looked at the... object Robin had created, a... an... an...

"Uh... it's a really nice ashtray?", she said and Robin frowned, turning the misshapen piece of clay in her hands. "It was supposed to be a vase."

"Oh. Uhm... sorry."

"I think it's a plate now."

Her voice was shaky and Athena wasnt sure of what to do. Leaving Robin alone in a moment like this felt wrong. But another glance at her phone told her that the school bell was just about to ring and once that happened, Myriam and Junie would be there for her.

"Uh, Robin? I need to go now. Apollo just send me some... new information about the case. It's really important." _Liar, liar._ She placed a hand over Widget to keep him from yelling out her thoughts.

But Robin didn't notice the lie, bold as it had been. "Yes... that's fine. I'll stay here and fix this plate and..." she gulped and looked up, "...if... if you find anything about Hugh, then... then..."

"I'll tell you, I promise. Please don't worry, yes?" _I'll worry for you._

She left Robin and her pottery behind, left the school just as the bell rang out. Her feet carried her to the bus stop. Six minutes. Or four, if she took the one to People Park and changed there. But no, that was too difficult and would probably take longer in the end. Thus, she let the first bus pass without getting on.

She ended up regretting her desicion soon enough as she ended up pushed against the window by way too many people, none of which had the slightest right to exist in such an obstructing manner. The five stations between the academy and the hospital were sheer torture, but eventually she managed to escape the crushing death trap and found herself in front of the Dye-Young Hospital.

Her lucky star was apparently shining because nurse Byrde was on the job and allowed her to go see Mr. Edgeworth without any complaints. Only when she entered the room did she realize that she didn't even know where to search. His jacket was draped over the bed, so perhaps she could search the pockets? But that resulted in absolutely nothing. They were empty, save for a rather childish keychain.

Slowly but surely, she realized that she had absolutely no clue of what to do now that she was here. She'd been so worried and exited, she hadn't spend any time thinking. So... so what?

There was a chair nearby. Athena pulled it close and sat down, pulling her phone from her pockets and reading the damned text again. It hadn't changed, unfortunally.

It really was worrying, especially because she knew exactly how it felt to be in such a state of mind. God, she'd been a child at that time, one who hardly knew the meaning of 'death', one who'd tried to fix a dead body as if it was just a machine... and still, she was almost certain that she had had the same ideas as Mr. Gavin, would have written something similar if she'd been capable of writing songs. But the most important thing was whether this was simply a manner of coping or actually a...

 _Aaargh_ , if only she had that cursed first part to know more _details_!

"Athena?"

She flinched and turned around as if she'd been caught stealing from the donation box.

"Apollo? You're still he..."

"Klavier's condition is getting worse."

There was nothing in his voice, nothing in his eyes. Just stating a fact.

"What... what do you mean by getting worse?"

Apollo stared down at the ground. "He stopped breathing earlier. As in, completely stopped. They say he's fine now, but I know they were lying. My bracelet..."

He didn't look up. "Apollo..."

"They made some adjustments to his IV line and his oxygen supply and I think I heard some talk about how he might need an operation one day. I don't... I'm not allowed to see him, but I couldn't just leave..."

What to say? Assurance, encouragement? But all she got out was: "I... I thought he didn't take a lethal dose?!"

Wrong thing to say. Apollo actually jumped back and stared at her, eyes wide in terror. "He... he didn't! That's completely true!"

"Then..." Encouragement. Assurance. "Then... I'm sure he won't die, Apollo. He's been badly poisoned and it's maybe a little worse than they thought, but he... he's not going to die. I just know it, okay?" If that was true, then why was she putting so much energy into staying perfectly still? There was no reason for her to be nervous and thus there were no nervous ticks and thus, thus there was nothing for Apollo to pick up on and nothing for her to hide and...

Great, now she was twice as concerned as she'd been earlier.

"I just... I hope you're right. Can we..." A sigh. "Can we talk about something else? What about the investigation? Anything new?"

She jumped onto the new topic, gave him a grin and rolled her eyes. "Oh, you have _no_ idea."

It took her about ten minutes to explain everything, his eyes getting wider and wider with every passing minute. Once she reached the end of her story, all he could do was shake his head in disbelief.

"But... Why? Why... go through all this trouble just... just to kill Mr. Gavin? Why...?"

There was no answer to that, at least not as far as Athena knew. She opened her mouth to give one anyway.

She never got around to it. Somewhere behind them, Mr. Edgeworth moved.

And opened his eyes.


	10. Chapter 10

January 04, 02:32 PM

Dye-Young Hospital

Hallway

#

"HOW IS HE?! IS HE AWAKE?!"

Mr. Wright threw the door open with enough force to hit the wall, but Apollo didn't even budge.

"Turns out that when someone wakes up from being unconcious, the doctors need to run some tests.", said Athena, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. "They threw us out. But he was awake when we left."

He would actually see the build-up tension leaving his boss as Mr. Wright closed his eyes. No one spoke for a minute or two. Then Mr. Wright shook his head and sat down next to Apollo. The relief in his voice was almost overwhelming as he said: "So he's going to be okay..."

"Uh... Mr. Wright?"

Nurse Byrde stood in the door, curtseyed nervously and kept her eyes on the ground. "The doctors say you can come in now. Mr. Edgeworth is still very weak and tired, so please try to stay quiet."

"Thank you, Maggey. Athena, Apollo? Come on."

True to word, Mr. Edgeworth did look rather exhausted when they entered the room. The IV drip was still stuck in his arm and the machines surrounding him were still there, looming over the small bed. But he was sitting up and someone had fetched him a cup of tea.

"Edgeworth..."

Apollo had never seen Mr. Wright smile like this.

"Wright. And I see you brought your entire agency along. What owes me the honor of this visit?"

He got no answer, just a smile as Phoenix sat down at his side. "Remember the last time we were in a hospital together?"

"Hmpf. You may notice that I, unlike you, have the decency to actually _act_ as if I had nearly died."

"Ah, come on. I was unconcious, too. Even longer than you!"

"Being unconcious for a day or two is a perfectly normal response to ingesting a fingertip full of Zitraine. It is _not_ the normal reaction to falling 40 feet..."

"Edgeworth..."

"...Off a burning bridge..."

" _Edgeworth_..."

"...Into a river well known for killing those who fall into it. So pardon me if I say that no, your reaction was _not_ appropriate _at all_."

"Is that why you fell unconcious? To _react_ appropriately?"

"Yes."

Apollo stared at them. Yet another 'fairytale' that was actually true. He'd though for _sure_ that Mr. Wright had been exaggerating about that!

"Oh, by the way, I alerted Ms. von Karma", said Phoenix to nobody in particular. Edgeworth perked up at the sound of his sister's name. "Franziska? Why is she here?"

"She was... a _little angry_ to find that her little brother has been poisoned. We should probably hurry and find the culprint before she murders them."

"Your sister is really scary, Mr. Edgeworth", mumbled Athena, but her smile betrayed her words. Edgeworth agreed nonetheless. "True, she is hot-blooded. What about Mr. Gavin? How is his situation?"

Apollo swallowed hard. This was probably his job, huh? With a few words, he explained to Mr. Edgeworth the bad situation that Mr. Gavin was in. Concern showed on the Chief Prosecutor's face.

"I... see. Has somebody thought to check on the hospital itself? There is a chance that the culprit has striked again. They might even be a staff member."

A headshake from Apollo. "No, they checked his blood and there's nothing signalizing he's been posioned again. The most likely scenario is that his lungs were already damaged before he ever took the Zitraine."

"Hm. Any other clues as to who the culprint might have been?"

Athena took it upon herself to, yet again, explain everything to both Mr. Wright and Mr. Edgeworth. Apollo noted that she started playing with her ear ring towards the end, but he didn't have any time to percive it now.

"...and now it all depends on whether or not Ms. von Karma figured out where that picture was taken."

Edgeworth nodded. "My sister is an intelligent woman. If I know her well enough and I belive I do, she will bring any new information she might have gotten with her when she comes to visit."

"Then I belive we must wait. I doubt that she will take long."

 _CRACK!_

"Miles Edgeworth! How _dare_ you bring yourself into this situation?!" And there she was, Franziska von Karma who'd somehow managed to keep her whip. Of course, no one had ever managed to take her whip away. The reason was because, if someone was trying to take it away from her, that meant it had not yet been taken and _that_ , of course, meant she still had it. Apollo pitied the poor fool who had tried to lay hands on it. It had probably been painful.

"Franzika. It has been a while."

"Stop being so calm!" _CRACK!_ "And where did you get that cup of tea?! Was that really your first choice of action? To order some _tea_?!" _CRACK!_

"Actually, Ms. Byrde brought it to me without having been asked. She broke the saucer, unlucky as she is, but it was a kind gesture of here."

Franziska clenched her fists, searching for something to say. She wasn't angry, Apollo realized. She was _worried_ and trying to hide it.

Maybe someone should try telling her that it wasn't working. Still, she gave it one last try.

"And the person who alerted me was Phoenix Wright! Did you not even care enough to alert me yourself?!"

"My apologies. I didn't know you were here. I was unconcious, if you recall."

For a few moments she gesticulated wildly, trying to make up for her lack of an answer. Then she gave up.

"At least you did wake up. Now, how much do you know about the case at hand?"

"Enough to know that you may have some new information at hand."

"Oh! Yes, Ms. von Karma, did you get the picture analyzed?"

Athena looked giddy, but Franziska just frowned. "Unfortunally, our first attempts were fruitless. Sebastian D... gnhg." Her sentence broke off with a weird noise, as if she was trying to swallow her tongue and bite it at the same time. Mr. Wright tilted his head in confusion. "Huh?"

"N... nothing. Nothing. As I was saying, Sebastian is currently trying to get a deeper anaylsis, but that will take quite some time."

Apollo coughed. "Uh... How much is 'quite some time'?"

"Up to two weeks."

"WHAT?!" He hadn't planned to yell, but his chords of steel got the better of him. "We can't wait that long! What if the culprint tries a second time and succeeds?!"

Ignoring Apollo's panic, Phoenix turned to her. "Is there really no information at all?"

And she smiled.

"I never said that."

"Huh? But you just..."

"True, our analysis got us no results. But it appears that Klavier Gavin has a lucky star, because just as me and... _Sebastian_ were about to leave, Simon Blackquill came to cross our way and asked what we were doing. Sebastian showed him the picture and apparently, he recognized it."

"He... he did?!"

"WAY TO GO, SIMON!", cheered Athena, but then she noticed that Mr. Edgeworth was frowning. "What's wrong, Mr. Edgeworth?"

"I see you understand." Now Ms. von Karma was frowning, too. "He may recognize the building, but a prosecutor saying that he is 'almost certain' he has seen that place before is hardly enough for a search warrant."

"Oh..."

Silence. Phoenix, who'd been sitting next to Edgeworth the entire time, got up again only to stare at his feet. "Can't we... I dunno, find a way around that?"

"No, I fear not. Seb... Sebast..." _Why does she have so much trouble with the name Sebastian?_ " _Sebastian_ has looked into it and apparently, the building stands empty, but still has an owner. Normally, that would be good, as we could attempt to get the owner's permission. However, no one actually knows who the owner _is_. We must either wait for the analysis to be done or find the owner. Both will take up some time."

And there was no time. No one said that, but they all knew it. _There was no time_.

"Unless..."

Oh?

Von Karma was smiling yet again, a smug grin of superiority. "...We call in some... _backup_?"

"I'm afraid that I don't quite understand."

"Now, now, Miles Edgeworth. Is there really no one you can think off? Someone to call when you need... illegal things performed in the name of truth?"

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT THAT!" A yell, followed by a painful whimper. Edgeworth had, in his sudden burst of rage, lunged forward and was now clutching the place where the IV line pierced his skin. A small drop of blood ran out from between his fingers.

"You... no! That is too dangerous. And besides..."

He took a deep, shaky breath. "...I do not know where she is anyway. I can't exactly snap my fingers and conjure her up, now can I?"

 **Ba-dum.**

Apollo's bracelet tightened.

"Mr. Edgeworth", he said, calmly rubbing his wrist, "I have no idea what you are talking about. But I do know that you are lying."

"What?"

 _Percive..._

"Please, Mr. Edgeworth, repeat your statement."

"Fine, if I must. That is too dangerous and besides, I do not know where she is anyway. I can't exactly snap my fingers and..." _conjure her up, now can I? That is to dangerous and besides, I d-o n-o-t k-n-o-w w-h-e-r-e..._

His voice seemed to get slower as he spoke and every action, every movement of his got bigger, stronger, filled the world. His chest rising and falling, breathing evenly. The motion of his mouth. His fingers, motionless against the duvet. The universe disappeared, made a step back and took second place to Mr. Edgeworth, his voice and his movements. Every single twitch...

 _...s-h-e i-s a-n-y-w-a-y. I c-a-n'-t e-x-a-c-t-l-y s-n-a-p m-y f-i-n-g-e-r-s a-n-d..._

...a smile, but that wasn't it. It had to be there. Someone said something, somewhere, but what did it matter? The hospital could have burned down and he wouldn't have noticed it, not unless Mr. Edgeworth stopped talking...

 _...c-o-n-j-u-r-e h-e-r u-p, n-o-w c-a-n I?_

No find yet. But it was there, he knew that with every fiber of his being. Now he himself said something. Maybe a plea to Mr. Edgeworth to please repeat the statement, again? Statement? He wasn't in court. Was he? Where was he?

 _T-h-a-t i-s t-o d-a-n-g-e-r-o-u-s a-n-d b-e-s-i-d-e-s, I d-o n-o-t k-n-o-w w-h-e-r-e s-h-e i-s..._

Hands? No changes. His breathing? Still calm and even. His mouth? Just talking. His eyes...

 _Gotcha!_

"Mr. Edgeworth, why do you glance over to the curtain when you say that?"

"I... I don't!"

"Ah, Edgeworth... I'm afraid that hiding things from my dear Apollo is rather difficult. It's like my Psychelocks... or Psycholocks, as you like to call them."

"Phoenix Wright, what is the meaning of this?!" Franziska stomped her foot, then almost fell over due to her high heels. Mr. Wright ignored it.

"Now, Edgeworth. I admit that I, just like Apollo, don't actually know who you are talking about..:"

"Make that three of us, yeah?"

"Thank you, Athena, now what was I... ah, yes. We don't know what you are talking about, but who- or whatever it is, it has something to do with this curtain, has it?"

"Wright, do not even attempt to open that curtain! You will not dare..."

"Okay, I'll do it, then!"

Athena grinned and before Mr. Edgeworth could say another word, she was already headed for the window, grabbed the long, green curtain and pulled.

"EVEN IN THE DEPTHS OF NIGHT, WHEN NO OTHER BIRD DARES TO TAKE FLIGHT, ONE ALONE SOARS TO SHINE THE LIGHT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS ON THE WORLD'S BLIGHT! AND THAT ONE IS ME! **FOR I AM THE GREAT THIEF YATAGARASU!** "


	11. Chapter 11

January 04, 02:59 PM

Dye-Young Hospital

Room 09

#

Athena stared at the girl that had jumped out from behind the curtain, a girl who was now mere centimetres away from her face. "Meep."

"HI! I'm Kay Faraday! Better known as the Great Thief Yatagarasu! And you are?!"

She just kept staring. The girl looked... pretty normal, safe for the gigantic key stuck in her hair. What was up with _that_?! "I'm, uh... Athena. Athena Cykes."

"Hah! Trick question, I already knew that! I've been here the entire time! Ever since the doctors left!"

Wait, she had been hiding behind the curtain the entire time?! "That... uh..."

But Kay ignored her to run over to the rest of the group. "Cool, hi, Mr. Justice and Mr. Wright, whoever you are. Hi Ms. von Karma, long time no see!"

"Ms. Faraday. So I was correct in my assumption."

"You sure were! So, what's this thing about doing illegal stuff in the name of the law?"

"That 'thing', Kay, is something you will have absolutely no part in. I refuse to endanger your life in such a way."

Edgeworth crossed his arms. "There is a killer on the loose, after all."

"And? Never stopped me before."

"Edgeworth, who is this girl?"

He sighed. "Kay Faraday. She... assisted me a few times."

So Mr. Edgeworth had cute teenage assistants too, hm? Go figure.

"Pleasure to meet you. No clue why you're here, but who cares."

Franziska stepped up closer. "Oh, I belive you will care after all. May I introduce you? This foolish fool is Phoenix Wright. He is 'that man'."

"NO WAY!"

Kay stared at Phoenix as if he'd been revealed to be Jesus himself. " _You_ are 'that man'? Mr. Edgeworth! Why didn't you ever introduce us?! I thought for sure that 'that man' was some sort of super wise old guy living on a mountain! You're telling me it's just a defense attorney?"

"A little more respect, please."

"Yeah. Sorry." She turned back to Mr. Wright and beamed. "But seriously, he went nuts over you. It was always 'that man' said this and 'that man' did that and 'that man' taught me and stuff like that! Are you like, his mentor or something?"

Phoenix stared at her. Then a grin began to bloom on his face. "Aaw, _Edgeworth_! I didn't knew I was so _important_ to you."

"Wha... _no!_ Stop this foolishness, Wright! Kay, don't try to distract me. You are not doing anything."

"Uh-huh. So what's this anything I'm not supposed to do?", she asked towards Ms. von Karma, who pointed at her with her whip.

"Oh, you will break into an empty house, that's all. Search for clues. You might come across a kidnapping victim. I will provide you with a picture..."

"You will _not_!"

An argument started between Franziska and Edgeworth. Athena and Apollo could only watch in silence as they got more and more furious, both refusing to change their point. Eventually Mr. Wright interrupted them.

"Now, stop, please. Edgeworth, please. The house is probably completely empty, you know that."

" _Probably_?!" Ugh. Hopefully Mr. Wright had another solution... or maybe she had one.

"Maybe... maybe she could... take someone else along? Not go alone? Then she'd be safer."

All heads turned towards her. Kay shook hers. "Nah, that can't work. I'm a profi! I can't drag any not-thieves along, that would just make us both get into trouble. Or do you know any thieves? Huh?"

"Uhm..." Did she? "Apollo? Do you...?"

"No, not really."

Kay jumped a little, twirled around and struck a pose. "The Great Thief Yatagarasu is not one to be taken lightly! I will fight on my own or with a skilled fellow thief at my side!"

"You will not do anything! I highly doubt that there are any trustworthy thieves in this town, safe for the one currently in this room."

"I must admit that I, too, do not know any thief who would fill that role..."

Franziska looked somewhat defeated now and Kay started another attempt: "But I was on so many crime scenes already! What's one more in the end?"

"One more crime scene is what could put an end to your life. Unless you find a trustworthy adult, you will not do this. You'd break Gumshoe's heart."

"Oooh, Gummy! Is it true he got promoted?!"

"Ha! Surely that must be a jest. I doubt that Scruffy could ever get a promotion."

Apollo glanced over to Athena, helpless. All she could do was shrug. But then, as she turned back to Edgeworth and Franziska (who looked completely flabbergasted upon learning that Gumshoe really _had_ been promoted), she noticed... a grin on her bosses face.

"Well, I guess there's nothing we can do about that", he said, way too cheerful. "Ms. von Karma, we'll leave you to your brother. Edgeworth..." a moment of seriousity, "hope you feel better soon. Athena, Apollo? Trucy went to visit a friend at three o' clock, meaning there's nobody at the agency right now. One of you has to go there and hold the fort. The other one can, well... I don't know, to be honest."

"The other one may come back to the prosectuor's office with me", Ms. von Karma offered. "I was planning to go over the evidence once more."

"Really? So, yeah, you can decide who does what."

Athena shrugged. She'd been running around all day, so... "You can go with her, Apollo. I'll go to the Agency and wait there."

"Good. Thanks, Athena. And thank you, Ms. von Karma."

She looked at him, then smiled. "Very well. You will have to wait a few more minutes, though."

"Hey, what about you?"

"Good question, Kay." He flashed a smile at her. "I'm really curious about the whole 'that man' thing. Care to fill me in on that? I'll tell you things about me in return."

" _Wright..._ "

He raised his hands in fake shock. "Hey, Edgeworth, relax. We're just going for a walk, that's all. Come on!"

And so they split up, Athena heading for the agency, Apollo and von Karma staying a few minutes longer before going to the prosecutor's office and Phoenix and Kay leaving together for a walk.

#

January 04, 03:16 PM

People Park

#

"He really said that? About me?"

"He sure did! And to think Gummy knew about you the entire time and never told me. He must have known that Mr. Edgeworth was talking about you!"

Phoenix and Kay had wandered off, ending up in People Park. It was completely empty save for a single old man throwing seeds at the pidgeons and so they had plenty of room to speak. Which was good because Kay, like so many people Phoenix knew, had very little in the way of volume control. Not really good for a great thief.

"Now, after that Ms. Courtney showed up and told us that... by the way, where are we going?"

And Phoenix smiled.

He should probably feel bad about this. But truth be told, there was no guilt. In fact, his guilt had probably dropped ever since they'd left the hospital. If Kay had really been through all these things - and there were no Psychelocks in sight - then she was more than capable of searching an most likely empty house for clues. But Edgeworth wanted her to be joined by a grown-up and Phoenix was perfectly fine with that. It was easy.

"I need to run some errands", he said, "and meet up with an old client of mine. You can come along if you want. His wife makes some really good hot chocolate."

Her grin was wide enough to almost split her face in half and he silently congratulated himself. "Well, who can say no to an offer like that! Where does he life?"

"Not far away. Five or six minutes by foot."

"Great! So, as I was saying, Ms Courtney showed up and told us we ha no investigative authority, so we had to leave. But Gummy was still on the case and later he called us to..."

She kept going on and on with her insane tale and with every word she said, Phoenix expected Psychelocks to appear. He was actually somewhat disappointed. Why had Edgeworth never told him about any of this? It sounded just like his kind of case!

Still, it was rather interesting. Not only had he learned quite a bit about the so-called Yatagarasu - of course he'd _known_ about the thief, he'd just always belived it to be a fairy tale - but he was both disappointed and overjoyed that he had never faced this Judge Courtney in court before and it was quite interesting to learn what Edgeworth was doing when he wasn't in court. It was a difficult thing to imagine. For several years, he'd entertained a rather funny image of Edgeworth spending the entire night sitting in his office chair, motionless like a puppet, until the sun rose and he could work again. Learning that it wasn't true was almost... sad. What? What was he thinking?!

"...it looked like we'd just about won, but then Sebastian showed up and said..."

Edgeworth not acting like that was good, it made him human. It was certainly nothing to be disappoin wait what?

"You know Mr. Sebastian?"

"Sure, that's when Mr. Edgeworth and me first met him! He was a real stuck-up jerk back then,

though. You didn't know?" Oh, Edgeworth. The man had the communication skills of an oyster.

"No. I think Edgeworth is allergic to telling others about his life."

"You're being rude, Mr. Wright. He took Sebastian up because he felt sorry, you know?"

Phoenix stopped dead in his tracks. Kay didn't notice, just kept walking until, about six metres away from him, she realized that he was no longer next to her. "Hey, what gives?"

"He felt... sorry? For Mr. Sebastian?"

He didn't know much about that man, but... had there been... things? Stupid, to assume that the prosecutor's life had been a happy one. How many people Phoenix knew had led a happy life?! Oh, yeah: a total of zero.

...

...Maybe he was bad luck.

"You know, his father was a bit of an asshole. Raised him up to be a pawn in his criminal schemes and all this stuff. I think Mr. Edgeworth was reminded of Mr. von Karma, that's why he wanted to help." Yeah, that made sense. Poor Sebastian. Was there a single happy soul in that prosecutor's building? "I guess you're right. I... I'm sorry. I didn't know." Wait a moment. His father? No, was that the reason why...

"Is that why he... never uses his last name? Because of..." ...his father? _God_ , that was _awful_.

"That's it, yeah. It's 'Debeste' if you're curious. Sebastian Debeste." Debeste... De beste... The best, huh? He vaguely remembered Sebastian's... _unique_ reaction to the phrase 'the best'. So that was what that had been all about.

He actually felt a little guilty. Sometimes he forgot that most people he knew didn't have a family as happy as his own.

"Anyway, he said that he'd brought a witness who'd seen the entire thing and wanted to testify, so we..."

"Ah, here we are. Palazzo Pelpepe."

He pressed the door bell. After a few moments, something buzzed and the door opened. They climbed the stairs together, as the elevator was out of order and eventually reached the 3rd floor, where they were greeted by a brown-haired woman with a tight red catsuit. "Heya, Nicki boy! What are you doing here?"

He gave her a smile. "Hello, Ms. Delite. I wanted to talk to your husband."

"Oh, no problem. Come in. Who's the young lady?"

"I'm Kay Faraday, nice to meet you! And you're?"

"Desirée Delite. Come on, please!"

When Phoenix entered the apartment, he couldn't help but notice that it looked... different than before. It looked almost like a normal home now as opposed to looking like a criminal's hideout.

Nice _try_...

"You want anything to drink? Coffee, tea, hot chocolate?"

Kay's grin doubled in size and she gave her best attempt at puppy-dog eyes. It would have worked better if she'd been less excited. Phoenix decided to place the order for her.

"Some hot chocolate would be nice, thank you."

"No problem, just wait a sec. I'll call in Ronnie, too."

They were shooed to a small green couch and made to sit down before Desirée disappeared into the kitchen. Phoenix could hear her yell for her husband.

"So, this woman was your client once?", asked Kay, dangling her legs as she took a look around.

"Oh, no. The client was her husband. Accused of murder and stealing."

"Hey, cool! But seeing how we're here to visit him, I think I can guess the verdict."

"Yeah, a complete aquittal... somehow. Oh, I didn't know he had pets."

Kay perked up. "Pets? Where... OH! Fishies!"

She slid off the couch and ran over to the fish tank where tiny fish in red, white and yellow swam through thick green plants. After a few seconds, her attention shifted to the coins that decorated the ground of the tank. "Hey, are those real?"

"Possible. I'm not sure, though."

" _So, uh..._ "

"You think they'd notice if I took one?"

"Please don't. I'm pretty sure they would."

" _If you could..._ "

"Aw, you're a real bore, Mr. Wright. I just want one!"

"Well, you could..."

" **DON'T IGNORE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!** "

They both winced and whirled around to face a young, nervous-looking man with reddish hair and large, brown eyes.

"Oh... Mr. Delite. I'm sorry." _I didn't even see him._

The young man gave a shy smile and sat down in the armchair across the table. Kay returned from the fish tank and decided to introduce herself by getting up in his face and being loud. "Hi, I'm Kay Faraday!"

"Uh... I'm Ron Delite... it's nice to meet you at least I think it is. I mean, I kn _ow nothing about you..._ " His voice faded into oblivion and he blushed.

"What about you, Ronnie? Do you want a drink?"

Desirèe had entered the room, carrying a tray with two mugs on it. Kay got the bigger one and Phoenix tried very hard not to be jealous. It was difficult. Desirèe's hot chocolate was amazing. To think he hadn't gotten a taste of it back when they first met! But Ron was one of the clients he visited most often. He stayed in touch with most of his defendants, but Ron was... useful. Ron had information.

Of course, today it wasn't information he was after...

"No thanks, Dessie... not right now..." How could Ron say no to hot chocolate? She'd even brought cookies to go with it!

Anyway. Time for business. He gave Kay his most charming smile and she looked at him weirdly.

"So... let's get straight to the important part." He took a sip from his mug and burned his tongue. He took another one anyway.

"Kay? This right here is the grown-up who will accompany you to the empty house."

"WHAT?!"  
She jumped up, yelling the word at the top of her lungs. Funnily enough, Ron's reaction was the exact opposite of her's: He seemed to shrink into the armchair and quietly mumbled something to himself.

"Mr. Wright, you gotta be joking! I thought you understood, I can't just take anyone along, it's gotta be a thief!" Ron gulped and looked into the other direction, suddenly fascinated with his own fish tank.

Phoenix leaned back, watched them both. Took another sip, very slowly. "Hm. Did I introduce you yet?"

"What? No, we did that ourselves, but..."

"Then I guess I'll do it now."

He got up, placing his mug down and placed his hands on his hips, confidence spreading through his body.

"Kay Faraday, may I introduce? This man... is Mask DeMasque. Ron Delite? I'd like you to meet... The Great Thief Yatagarasu!"


	12. Chapter 12

January 04, 03:32 PM

Palazzo Pelpepe

Mask DeMasque's hideout

#

Mask DeMasque and the Great Thief Yatagarasu stared at each other. It was Kay who broke the silence. " _No way!_ Y-you are..."

"You are... the... the real Yata _ga..._ " His voice broke. Neither of them was able to speak, so Phoenix spoke for them.

"He's an adult and he is trustworthy, so he fills Edgeworth's demands. And he is a master thief, so he should fill your demands." But they weren't even listening. No one said anything. Then Kay exploded. "I had NO IDEA that Mask DeMasque lived so close to ME! I read all about your heists! You're amazing! You leave your calling card, you warn them and they STILL can't catch you, that's so cool!"

"I... you think I'm... I mean, I didn't even know you knew of my existence... which is pretty silly se _eing how it was all over the news... just forget I said anything..._ " Then he caught himself and got louder again: "Oh, but I know all about you. The Great Yatagarasu was one of my idols! Actually, that's where I got the idea for the calling cards from..."

Phoenix gave up. There was no chance of talking to them, not while they were busy going nuts over each other. He'd just have to wait and drink his hot chocolate which, honestly, wasn't the worst situation to be in.

"...so since I'm offically not guilty of being Mask DeMasque, I can't be arrested for anything I do! I'm the perfect criminal! Uh, that's not so _mething to brag with is it..._ "

"You bet it is! I wanna be the perfect criminal, too! Mr. Wright, you gotta prove me innocent so I can't be arrested! Actually, no. Mr. Edgeworth'll save me, so you don't have to!"

 _I wouldn't have done that anyway!_ But he didn't say that out loud. He was way too happy to complain about anything. His plan was bound to work now, with how well the two thieves got along. And he trusted Mr. Delite, as a defense attorney should. He dunked a cookie into his hot chocolate. A perfect mix. He had to come here more often.

"...long story short, I need someone to break into an house with me to search for the victim of a kidnapping." Ah. Now they were getting somewhere. At this point, he wouldn't have to say anything more.

And yes, true enough, Kay and Ron not only came to an agreement, but made up an entire plan all on their own. Phoenix only interrupted them once, to hand them a picture of Hugh O'Conner. It had been taken during an archery competition and was a little blurry, but it showed him front and center and was focused on his face. Ron put it in his pocket.

"We have a deal, then", said Kay after everything had been decided. "We'll meet at around eleven 'o clock in front of that house, right?"

"Exactly. It'll be a great honor to work with the Great Thief Yatagarasu."

"And it'll be an equally great honor to work with Mask DeMasque! Anything you have to add, Mr. Wright?"

He grinned. There was nothing he could say, they'd already taken care of everything. Although, there was one thing he was curious about.

"Well, this has nothing to do with the current problem, but... say, do you know anything about that golden statue that was stolen from Lordly Tailor?"

He got the answer he somewhat expected: "Oh, that? Yeah, it's hidden in the kitchen."

"Seriously?! Ooh, you have to show me!"

She pretty much pulled him away towards the kitchen. Phoenix didn't follow him. He stayed behind in the living room, silently celebrating his luck.

And when Desirée offered him another cup of hot chocolate, he didn't say no.

#

January 04, 06:33 PM

Prosecutor's building

Von Karma's office

#

Apollo had been surprised to find that Franziska von Karma, despite living in Germany, actually had her own office here. With nothing to do, he was now mostly admiring her enormous collection of law books. Most of them were in German, but he also spotted several english ones and unlike the ones in the Agency, these books were not even covered in dust.

She'd allowed him to try and read one, but he'd only been two pages in when he'd been hit with a wall of word he'd never heard before. Now he just sat there, slightly worried about not knowing these words. A lawyer should probably know them. At least some of them. At least one.

Ms. von Karma was silently working, categorizing the items found in both Mr. Gavin's and Mr. Edgeworth's room. There was no sound safe for her fingers on the keyboard, working in a perfectly perfect touch typing system. Every once in a while, she'd ask him a question and he'd answer to the best of his ability. Which usually meant that he shrugged.

She'd also offered him a glass of wine. He'd declined, but now he was starting to regret it. He couldn't actually remember the last time he had drunk anything. Had he done that today? That was pretty important.

Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the panic in the nurse's eyes when Klavier had stopped breathing.

So he kept them open, concentrating on something. On the sound of von Karma typing. On the books on the shelves. On... something else. There wasn't much.

"Apollo Justice?"

Time for another question, hm? He prepared himself to shrug, but what she said was not a question, but an instruction: "Go search for Sebastian D... for Sebastian. This... thing right here...", she held up a Gavineers t-shirt, "...doesn't have an evidence tag. I think he took it off earlier to show to Scruffy, but he was planning to bring it back. Apparently he hasn't. He's probably somewhere on the higher floors."

"No problem." At least that would distract him a bit. Having something to do was a pretty good deal.

He headed outside, for the elevator. Someone was already standing there, waiting.  
"Good evening, Justice-dono." And that someone was Prosecutor Blackquill, one hand in his coat, the other one tapping the wall impatiently. "What brings you here?"

Finally a place to use the shrug he'd prepared. "I'm searching for Mr. Sebastian."

"Hmpf. He's on the tenth floor. Or should be, if he doesn't wish to meet Karma-dono's whip." And he laughed, laughed until the elevator came. They stepped in and Blackquill pressed the button for the tenth floor. Apollo almost asked why, before remembering that Blackquill's own office was also on that floor. But now his mouth was already open, so he asked something different: "Do you know Ms. von Karma?"  
He chuckled, a dark, dangerous sound. "I met her once, a few years after the UR-1 incident, when she had a case involving the dark dungeon they call prison. I ended up as a part of her investigation. Our battle was long and once it had passed, it had all been for nothing. For every slash of my blade that cut her flesh, she would return a lash of her whip that hurt just as much. In the end, we parted as equals. Many years have passed since that day. I was... _glad_ to see that she has not lost the fight that is withhin her."

Apollo's bracelet tightened and he couldn't help but smile. Blackquill was rubbing his shoulder. The cloth there was clearly torn, as if a certain someone had, quite literally, lashed out at him. It wasn't hard to imagine it as a greeting of sorts.

 _Bing_! 10th floor. Blackquill pretty much ignored him as they headed back, but Apollo didn't really pay much attention anyway. There was light coming form Klavier's office, which meant that Sebastian was probably there. Which meant that Apollo would have to enter it.

Slowly, after hesitating for a second or two, he pushed the door open.

At first, he almost screamed in shock. But after a moment of confusion, he realized that Sebastian was not, if fact, dead or unconcious. And once that realization had set in, he couldn't help but smile.

The prosecutor was draped over the couch, his chest covered in loose papers, an open pen in his hand. The other hand dangled off the couch, hitting the floor.

"Don't dare to wake him up, Justice-dono. He has hardly slept for the past two days. Too much work and not enough people to take care of it."

Blackquill had followed him, leaning against the door frame. Now that he'd mentioned it, there were dark circles under Sebastian's eyes and it seemed as if the prosecutor had collapsed in the middle of his work. Carefully and without really knowing why, he pushed the paper off the prosecutor's body and placed the cap on the pen. His actions net him another laugh from Blackquill.

"It seems that your quest will not be fulfilled tonight, Justice-dono. What did you need?"

"Ms. von Karma is missing an evidence tag."

"Hmpf. That's all? I'll write one for you, else you might wake her wrath. Or Sebastian-dono, in which case I will be the wrathful one. Follow me."

And Apollo followed him to Blackquill's office, a mythical world filled with katanas, and Blackquill wrote a new tag for him. He left with the tag in hand, just as Blackquill's phone rang and hurried back to the elevator as fast as he could.

Else he might wake her wrath.

#

January 04, 10:56 PM

Barley Lane No. 23

#

In the raven-black darkness of a moonless night, Mask DeMasque and the Great Thief Yatagarasu dancingly descended upon the darkwood floor of an abandoned house or, in other words, climbed in through a broken window. Kay shuddered as the cold air hit her. She suddenly regretted not wearing a jacket.

Mask DeMasque stood at her side and it was amazing how... different he was from the shy man she'd met earlier. The second he'd put on the mask, he had... changed. His voice was more confident. His movements were faster, more elegant. He even stood up straighter, at least that was how it seemed.

"Are you ready?", she whispered and he nodded. Slowly, they took a look around.

The room was a bedroom... or had once been. Thick spider webs covered the furniture and the cloth had been partly eaten by moths. Mask DeMasque brushed a faded curtain aside. Dust showered him as he did.

"I don't think anyone has been here in years", he stated and his voice seemed lower than before. She had to give him her silent agreement as she opened one of the drawers. A spider looked up at her, upset at being disturbed, and she tipped it with her finger. She didn't mind spiders.

But there was nothing of interest hidden in the drawer. A hairbrush, a lighter, a few tissues, old enough to fall apart when she touched them. It was hard... no... impossible to imagine that anyone had spend time here, ever.

Something moved underneath the desk and she went down on her knees, shining her flashlight to see whatever was hiding under there. She locked eyes with a cat, fur matted and dirty. The animal ducked in fear.

"There, kitty", she mumbled, "I ain't gonna eat you." Although it was probably the most edible thing in the house.

Splinters crunched beneath her shoes as she stepped through the shards of a broken mirror. It's frame still hung on the wall, empty and without purpose. The scent of mold and old wood hit her nose and she shook her head. How could they let a house age like this? Homes were scarce, she'd met many people who'd have enjoyed this place! Well, not the way it was right _now_ , but...

"The door is not locked." Mask DeMasque placed a gloved hand on the door handle and looked at her as if to ask for permission. She nodded silently.

He opened the door, revealing a drab hallway. There were still coats on the hooks, still jackets lying around. Still freezing, Kay played with the thought of putting one of them on. Their owner clearly didn't need them.

...

Who had owned the building? And why had they left? Mr. Wright had said that they couldn't find them. She wondered why...

The coats really looked good. Carefully, she gave one of them a sniff. It was old and dusty, but seemed in pretty good shape: "Hold on a moment..." And when the thick cloth surrounded her, she felt much better. "Okay, keep going." He shook his head in amusement. Tsk! That was easy for _him_... his costume included a coat!

He stopped to touch another curtain, with the exact same result: Dust raining down, covering his shoes and the spotless floor. He threw a look through the window behind it. "Garden." he said quietly. "Completely overgrown, but there are still some flowers. Do you think I can steal one of the roses for Dessie?"

"Sure, once we're done here." After all, it wasn't like there was anyone to...

Stop.

Rewind, rewind. What had just happened?

Oh. Oh, _hell_. The realization hit like a ton of bricks.  
"There _was_ someone in here!", she hissed, quickly turning to keep an eye on the hallway.

"What makes you think that?" he whispered back. But he was taking her serious, now standing alert, ready to run. She was on her knees now, running a finger across the wooden ground.

"Look at the floor. No dirt, no dust. Someone cleaned that." Someone had been here. Her eyes darted back to the room they'd come from. Had the floor been dusty there?! Why hadn't she paid any attention?! Stupid, stupid. _Stupid_! What sort of thief just overlooked that?! Checking the floor was _important_ to avoid leaving _footprints_!

Both of them were wary now, carefully observing the room. There were no traces safe for the clean floor, no signs of a human being. "Think it's safe to head for the next room?"

He bit his lip and when he talked, some of his former weakness seemed to have returned: "Yes, but one of us needs to k-keep an eye on the hallway."

"Got you. Which room?"

He picked a door at random. They entered something which had most likely once been a kitchen. Now it was a laboratory for breeding new kinds of mold. She was rather grateful for her gloves.

"I'll watch the hallway. You search the room." No dust on the floor here, either. Why clean up the dust? To hide footprints? Clever. But still pretty obvious. Whoever had left them hadn't expected anyone else to show up.

Was she even on the right track? The windows were all broken, everyone could get inside. Maybe a homeless man had spend the night here and had cleaned the floor to make it more comfortable? No, that was pretty dumb.

A noise came from the hallway and she stiffened. Seconds later, the cat stepped into the hallway, looked at her with large green eyes and disappeared into the shadows.

"Yatagarasu."

Mask DeMasque called for her and when she turned to face him, he was holding... something resembling a stick wrapped in cloth. Blue cloth. Blue... cloth? Hey, wasn't that...

"Mask DeMasque, do you still have the picture Mr. Wright gave you?" He looked at her in confusion, then his eyes widened and he pulled the picture from his pocket.

A moment of contemplation. Then a moment of agreement. "That is it." "Yes. It is."

Whatever it was, it belonged to Hugh O'Conner, shown clearly in the photograph. He was holding the cloth-covered something in his arm, smugly grinning into the camera. Poor guy. Kay hoped he was okay...

But more importantly, he had been _here_.

"Let's keep searching the other rooms", she suggested. Mask DeMasque nodded, holding the something close to his chest as they left the so-called kitchen.

Later, Kay would mentally punch herself for her error. She'd seen so many movies, read so many books and still she had forgotten one of the most important laws in life.

When you are somewhere dangerous and something makes a noise?

It's _never_ _ever_ the cat.


	13. Chapter 13

January 04, 11:41 PM

Barley Lane No. 23

#

The sound of her own boots on the floor unnerved Kay. It made her worry about missing other, more important noises. Mask DeMasque must have had similar thoughts, because he was tiptoeing. After a few moments of pondering, Kay decided to do the same.

Still no dust on the ground, even at the very end of the hallway. There were two more doors to go. One of them was open and Kay peeked inside. "Bathroom", she whispered. "Completely empty."

"Good", he breathed. "Do you want me to open the last door?" Did she? She wasn't sure and based on his pose, neither was he. But there wasn't really a choice, now was there...

...

...

No. There was no choice. There'd never been a choice. What was she even thinking?! Was she not the amazing truth burglar, the Great Thief Yatagarasu?! How pathetic, to act like this! Stand up straight, Kay! Chin up! A real thief doesn't get cold feet in the middle of a heist. Especially not when there was a human life on the line.

Exactly. She couldn't forget about that. A young man's life was in danger. She couldn't just run yet. She'd ruin the somewhat good name of the Yatagarasu!

Chin up. Stand up straight. Smile. A thief is someone who smiles no matter how bad it gets. Right?

"Let's open that door", she said with all the confidence she could muster.

Mask DeMasque obeyed.

With a soft creak, the door opened.

Kay instantly got flashbacks to her investigations with Mr. Edgeworth. Sebastian, he'd been in the exact same pose when they'd found him, tied up on the ground, with a piece of cloth shoved into his mouth...

As soon as he saw the tied-up man, Mask DeMasque dropped the cloth-wrapped something and rushed to his side. Kay followed him and together, they undid the ropes that held Hugh O'Conner in place. He gasped for air, shivering, his eyes filled with fear as he stared at them. "Who... who are..." The dust filled his lungs and he started coughing. Kay reached out, more because of a reflex than anything, and rubbed his shoulder. He winced, backed up against the wall and she smiled at him. "Relax, we're here to help you."

"I cannot allow that, I fear."

The voice was low and sophisticated, but there was an undertone of danger in it, a certain sound that made every word sound like a threat. And Kay knew that voice, had heard it once before. Her back felt _very_ exposed all of sudden... and very cold...

Slowly, hands raised up to show they were empty, she turned around to face the voice.

"Now, who do we have here? I belive we have met before."

Her throat? Dry. Her legs? Weak. Her shoulders? Tense. A thief is someone who smiles no matter how bad it gets? Yeah, sure, but even 'that man' aka. Phoenix Wright wouldn't be able to keep up his smile when facing an armed assassin.

Known as Shelly de Killer. He smiled at them, a polite smile which was almost sincere enough to distract from the knife in his hand. Almost.

Next to her, Mask DeMasque slowly spread out his arms, placing himself between the assassin and the weakened law student on the ground. He didn't say a word and de Killer chuckled.

"Why, I had not... expected to find any visitors here tonight. I think I must ask you to kindly leave my home." ...or else. He didn't say that, but it was obvious from the way he held the knife.

Kay gulped, not able to look away. She wanted to run, she wanted to flee and escape to safety...

Then she glanced over her shoulder at Hugh and stopped. No. The Great Thief Yatagarasu didn't run, didn't feel fear and didn't leave innocent people behind to die at the hand of an assassin! She widened her stance and gathered all her courage. Unfortunally there wasn't all that much left to gather.

"You refuse to leave? That is unfortunate." Stand your ground. Stay where you are. Don't run away, Kay. The Great Thief Yatagarasu won't let the truth die. The Great Thief Yatagarasu wouldn't let anyone die!

" **PLEASE RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!** "

A shadow jumped past her as Mask DeMasque... no, the mask had fallen off his face, this was _Ron Delite_ and he threw himself against the assassin with as much strenght as he could muster! Seconds later a painfilled scream rang out and Ron stumbled backwards, hands clutching his side as he collapsed next to Hugh.

Kay hadn't moved at all, hadn't been able to, it had all been way too fast! Now Ron was lying there, blood dripping out from between his fingers as he whimpered in pain and fear, the same blood that was staining de Killer's knife...

And de Killer shook his head.

"Oh dear. It seems that my words were not clear enough. Very well. In that case..."

He stepped closer, knife raised high and Kay felt like she was about to drop dead. He shouldn't look like this. So elegant, casual and... freaking sophisticated, as if he was planning to go buy a necklace for his wife, not to murder a man. Murder... a man...

"You have proven to be quite brave. You may have a quick death."

One thief for the other. Kay hadn't made the desicion, her deeply-rooted desire to do the right thing had made it in her place. The Great Thief Yatagarasu would not leave her partner in crime behind, no matter the cost. Mask DeMasque would not die tonight, not if she had any say in that! With a single swift move, she kicked the back of the assassin's knee.

He tripped forward, the knife falling from his hands and hitting the ground just centimetres away from Ron's leg. Slowly, de Killer turned around and as he looked at her, she felt her heart stop. He was actually angry now.

 _I'm dead I'm dead I should have run when Ron told me to I shouldn't still be here now we're both going to die I'm so dead I'll never get out of here I'll never see Mr. Edgeworth again or Gummy or Ms. von Karma or anyone, really, because I'm dead, dead, dead..._

A whimper tore from her throat. Move! But her feet seemed to be glued to the floor.

The next moment, a clenched fist was smashed against her cheek and she was tossed to the ground, hitting the hard floor. Her leg ached, perhaps she had sprained her ankle while falling... but that was nothing but a fading though in the very back of her mind, weirldy unimportant in the grand scheme of things. Dead people didn't care much for sprained ankles, after all.

When had he picked up the knife? It was back in his hand now, still red with blood, still razorsharp. No escape. Get up! Why couldn't she get up?! Oh yeah, sprained ankle. Right. Funny, how things slipped the mind...

Funny how things slowed down. She was still alive. Weird. And de Killer...

Oh.

Had he not screamed? Or had she just failed to hear it? Because there was more blood now, not on the knife but flowing down from his back, soaking the fabric of his shirt.

"I'm not... a genuis, but... I'm still the academy's best... archer."

Hugh was standing up now. His voice was shaky, his body was quivering; but his arms were steady, as if they belonged to an entire different person. His hands were closed around a piece of... wood, with a string...

Hey eyes found blue cloth next to his feet. No way. That cloth-wrapped something... it had been a _bow_?!

Yes, it had been a bow and there was an arrow stuck in de Killer's back, piercing cloth and flesh. Hugh reached down, took a new arrow, drew his bow once more.

"N-now... don't... move... or..."

Kay knew what was going to happen. He was so weak on his legs, which were probably asleep from having been tied up this long and the same went for his arms. This right now, this strenght and bravery was nothing but a short burst of adrenaline. Already his speech was getting slurred, his arms which had been motionless mere moments ago had started to tremble. And then, with a single movement, he collapsed, right on top of poor Ron who howled in pain as pressure was aplied to his wound. The ground beneath him was worringly red by now. If his wound wasn't treated soon, he would bleed to death...

And now that both Hugh and Ron were down, it was up to her to...

She moved, put her entire weight on her ankle and groaned in pain. De Killer didn't even spare her a glance. Instead he just reached over his shoulder and broke off the arrow, leaving the tip stuck in his back. He looked down at it for a moment, smirking. Then he snapped it in half.

"Now, Mr. O'Conner, as I am a man of honor, your life is not in danger as of now. Thus I must ask you to move aside..."

No reaction. Hugh didn't move an inch. The adrenaline had worn off and now he was motionless, perhaps he'd even fainted. The assassin shook his head, then just pushed him off Ron and then...

" **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!** "

The knife went deep and Ron screamed at the top of his lungs, tears streaming down his face as Shelly _slit his_ _chest open_ , Kay couldn't _breathe_ she couldn't _help_ all she could do was yell and beg and _stop, please stop you're hurting him_ but everything she said was drowned out by Ron's desperate cries of pain. He was going to _die_ oh _god_ he was _going to die_...

She pressed her hands over her ears, closed her eyes tightly but it didn't help in the slightest. There was nothing to do, if only she could stand...

Another try, she got up on her feet for a few moment, then fell back to the hard ground, a bolt of pain shooting through her leg and she gasped, biting down hard on her own lip and a metallic taste filled her mouth and made her gag. And de Killer continued his deadly work, pulling the blade back to unleash a river of blood...

"Now, I suppose this should do it. It's a shame, really. I'd rather not take the lives of bystanders." _Then don't do it, you sick monster!_ "Now, young lady..."

" **SILENCE.** "

A man had entered the room. He was hard to see through her tearfilled eyes, but he had black hair with a white stripe. She was just concious enough to question this...

"Another guest? Oh my. Perhaps I should have prepared some tea."

"Hmpf. That would be poisoned, then. Now put down the knife."

De Killer wiped the blade on his own shirt, leaving a streak of red behind. "Prosecutor Blackquill, was it? Now why should I obey such an order?"

He got no answer. Instead, the man - prosecutor Blackquill? - just moved his arm, two fingers pointed at the assassin, and swiftly moved his hand _up_.

 _Something_ happened. Once second, de Killer was unharmed, safe for the arrow in his back, the next second there was a deep _gash_ on his cheek. He didn't even budge.

But he did obey. He let up on Ron _thank god_ and dropped the knife. It landed at his feet with a satisfying _thud_.

"Good. Now..."  
" _He... he has..._ " Was it Ron or Hugh who had said that? But it interrupted Blackquill and cut his sentence short. The prosecutor eyed the assassin, who looked perfectly harmless, smiling innocently. It made Kay want to scream.

He had? He had what? A tiny sleight of hand, something small in his sleeves which was now in his hands, that was, that was a...

She opened her mouth to yell a warning, but before the words could leave her mouth, a shadow flashed, diving towards de Killer. Wings hit his face and he actually cried out in surprise. Blackquill laughed.

"I see you've met my bosom bird, Taka? He's a little bit protective of me. Now drop the pistol. Are there more weapons hidden in your sleeves?"

No answer. No answer but silence until de Killer suddenly raised his arm, a _shot_ rang out...

 **BANG!**

"TAKA!" And de Killer didn't react, just watched as the bird, a hawk, sank to the ground, it's wing bloodsmeared and he pointed the tiny pistol at it again and...

" _NO!_ " And Blackquill jumped.

Another shot sounded and Blackquill groaned, stumbling backwards, the bird pressed to his chest. He'd caught the bullet with his own leg but he was still willing to fight, readying his fingers for another strike. Next to the assassin's feet, Hugh had forced himself into a sitting position and was reaching for an arrow, ready to draw his bow again. She had to... had to help, _somehow_... grab the wall and pull yourself _up_ , put all the weight onto your healthy leg... she got up, staggering and shaky, but at least she was _standing_... now what?

Now nothing, it turned out. The assassin threw one look at the people surrounding him, two of them armed and ready to fire, and decided to change his strategy. He grabbed Hugh, making him drop his bow and dragged him up, high enough to press... the gun... against... his head...

"A-hem. As much fun as it is to play with you, ladies and gentlemen, I do belive this is going to far, so let me offer you a choice. I will take my dear hostage and leave. You will make no attempt to follow me. In return, none of you will die. Who knows?" He tilted his head and gently shook Hugh, who whined. "You might even be able to save our brave gentleman over there if you alert an ambulance now."

By that he meant Ron and... oh.

Oh god. _Ron_.

The ground beneath him was soaked with blood. He was shivering, clutching his chest as he stared at the ceiling. Kay wasn't even sure if he was still concious...

She threw Mr. Blackquill a pleading glance... and he understood. "Fine", he spat out and de Killer smiled.

"I am glad to see that you are being reasonable. Now, pardon me, but I will be taking my leave now..."

With that, he turned, choosing to climb out through the window instead of passing Kay and Blackquill to reach the door. Kay felt her foot ache and allowed herself to collapse again, no point in standing anymore...

Hugh didn't even fight as he was dragged away. No one spoke, not until de Killer and his hostage had disappeared from sight.

...

Slow breaths. She was alive. She. Was. Alive. It felt weird, being alive. Like it wasn't supposed to be. Breathe. Calmly. Good...

"We need to call an..." she began and then the universe exploded.

There was an _incredibly_ loud noise from outside, loud and sudden enough to make her leap to her feet, ignore the pain that came with it and run over to the window.

It took her a few seconds to understand what she was looking at.

On the street in front of the house was Hugh O'Conner, lying on the ground looking rather dizzy. Next to him, only a few feet away, was Shelly de Killer, also on the ground.

There was a motorcycle on top of him.

And on top of the motorcycle there was Desirée Delite, rubbing a small wound on her forehead.


	14. Chapter 14

January 05, 12:27 AM

Barley Lane No. 23

#

Kay jumped through the window and immediately regretted it. Her sprained ankle felt like it was on fire. But she still ran over to were the ridiculous scene had taken place.

"Ms Delite!". she yelled, "hold that man down!" But it wasn't necessary. Shelly de Killer had passed out.

She couldn't belive it. She couldn't belive any of this. Her head was aching, throbbing as she tried to understand. She fell to her knees, next to Hugh.

"Are... are you hurt? Hugh?!" He just groaned, but he seemed to be unharmed safe for a small cut on the back of his head.

Behind her, Blackquill climbed through the window, Ron's lifeless body in his arms. Seconds later, Desirée screamed in horror. "RONNIE!"

She jumped up, blood streaming from the wound on her head and nearly tripped as she ran over to her husband's side to clutch his limp hand: "R...ronnie!" She stared up at Blackquill in fear, shock, eyes wide and pleading, but all he did was shove a phone in her face. "Call an ambulance."

She took the phone, but didn't use it. Instead she just kept staring at her husband, motionless. "Y-you..."

Kay took pity on her and pulled the phone from her hand. "I'll do that. Okay?" No answer. But Blackquill noticed her. "Young Raven."

Was that her? Fine, then. "Hm?"

"Your coat, please." Coat? Oh yes. The coat she'd stolen a few minutes and several centuries ago. Together with Desirée, who eventually managed to move again, she spread the coat on the ground and placed Ron Delite down. Somewhere nearby, Hugh O'Conner had dragged himself in a sitting position and was now tearing his jacket into strips...

"You have reached the emergency service. How may I help you?" Uh...

More deep breaths. Calm and collected. Yes. "I need an ambulance. Quick!"

"Of course. Where are you and what is the situation?"

"Barley Lane, number 23. There are, uh..." Counting. Ron needed an abulance, clearly. Blackquill was acting strong, but there was blood gushing from his leg and he was breathing heavily. Hugh... was probably in no condition to walk, either. And she herself had a twisted ankle. As far as she knew, Desirée was relatively unharmed, safe for the head wound. And de Killer...

"We, uh... there are five injured people here. A man with a chest wound and a stab wound on his side. He's, uh... he's unconcious. And bleeding a lot. Another man who's been shot through the leg. The... right one." That was it. Keep talking. Just state the facts. "Then there's a young man, not hurt badly, but he's very exhausted and can't stand on his own. I have a sprained ankle, left side. And then there's a woman with a wound on her head, but it's not deep. Oh! And another man who took an arrow to the back. His cheek's cut open, too, plus he got hit by a motorcycle. He's a criminal, so we need the police, too! That's all, _please_ hurry!"

"You forgot Taka", growled a voice from where Blackquill was wrapping Hugh's torn jacket around Ron's chest. Kay nodded. "There's an injured bird, too. A hawk. He was shot through the wing."

For a few moments, there was silence. Then the operator asked, with a dry voice: "Is... is this a joke?"

"NO! It's serious!"

"...Alright. Barley Lane 23, correct?"

"Yes!"

"Raven! Hand the phone over to the motorcycle queen and keep an eye on de Killer!"

"I'll hand you over to someone else, okay?!"

"Wait, we..." "Bye!"

She pretty much threw the phone at Desirée and limped over to de Killer. Then she let herself fall the the ground and closed her eyes.

Now that she allowed herself to relax a little bit, she could appreciate the sillyness of it all. But she couldn't relax completely, not while Mr. Delite was still on the brink of death. Poor guy...

Opening her eyes again, she took a closer look at the assassin. He was still bleeding from cheek and back and his arm was twisted into an unnatural position. Yet even with all that, he still looked threatning, like an dying lion, weak and suffering but still able to lash out at anyone who came to close. The thought made her shudder.

Hugh had closed his eyes, breathing calmly. He wasn't unconcious as much as he was asleep, finally able to rest after days of fear. Desirée was holding her husband's hand, quietly whispering to him. Her face and hands were covered in blood, partly her own, partly Ron's. His wounds were fully bandaged now and the blue cloth covering them was already starting to turn crimson. Blackquill had moved on to bandaging... his hawk? Ignoring his own injuries, he was working to keep the bird's wing in place with cloth and one of Hugh's arrows. It was impressive, in a way. Kay doubted that she would have been able to do the same, to priorize a pet, no matter how beloved, over her own body.

Blue light flashed, reflecting on the motorcycle as the ambulance appeared, followed by a police car. And as paramedics flooded the scene, shouting orders at each other, she was content to just lay back and leave de Killer's fate in the rather big hands of Detective Gumshoe.

#

January 05, 05:47 AM

Police department

Evidence room

#

The ambulance had taken not only Ron Delite to the hospital, but also Hugh O'Conner and Simon Blackquill. Poor Ms. Delite had begged and pleaded until they'd allowed her to stay at her husband's side. That meant that only Kay was left to explain the situation to the policemen who'd come to take de Killer away. And oh boy, had they been shocked to find the world-famous assassin captured! Their wide-eyed stares and open mouths, although blurry through her tired eyes, would certainly become a treasured memory.

She had napped for a while after talking to the police, safe and secure here in the evidence room. Now she'd woken up, sprawled over a couch which had most likely been evidence at some point and wrapped in a large green piece of cloth. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Detective Gumshoe's trenchcoat. It was delightfully warm and smelled of cheap noodle broth.

Rubbing her eyes, she yawned and got up. Slowly, Gummy's coat thrown over her shoulder, she made her way towards the guard room.

It was empty. But there were voices coming from outside...

She opened the door to be met with Detective Gumshoe, talking to...

"Mr. Wright?", she asked, surprised. What was he doing here? She decided to ask the question out loud.

"Oh, Gumshoe found Robin's number in Hugh's phone, so he called her, so Robin called Juniper, who called Athena, who called me. Are you..."

"No, I'm fine", she said and he seemed relived. But then he frowned. "But I heard the news about Mr. Delite. I..." he stopped mid-sentence and lowered his gaze.

"Aw, don't beat yourself up, pal. You didn't mean to hurt anyone, now did you?"

"Yes, but... but..."

" **WRIGHT!** "

The door flew open and revealed Edgeworth, face red and teeth bared. He was walking with a crutch and accompanied by a nurse - not Maggey, a young, nervous-looking male - but other than that, he looked perfectly healthy... and also fuming mad.

"Uh... hey, Edgeworth! You're, uh..." He didn't get any further because Mr. Edgeworth closed in, leaned onto his crutch, raised one hand and...

He didn't slap him. He actually punched.

"Mr... Mr. E-Edgeworth!"

Only now did he seem to notice her and his expression changed on the spot. It was perhaps the most sincere smile she had ever gotten from him. The relief in his eyes was even stronger than his infamous glare.

"Kay. You... I heard everything. You..." He looked down at her bandaged ankle and she was quick to flash a grin. "No big deal, Mr. Edgeworth, it doesn't really hurt anymore. I didn't get hurt that bad. Why, I reckon that punch you just gave Mr. Wright might even be worse."

"I _hope_ so." Ah, there was that glare. Luckily directed at Mr. Wright instead of her. "Wright, at what point did you decide to endanger the life of my friend? Please tell me, so I may know precisely what to murder you for."

"Uuh... Mr. Edgeworth, Sir, this is the police department. And... I'm kinda a detective, you know?" Gumshoe pouted. He was perfect at pouting. "I mean, I'm even the Head Detective now. I can't just stand here and let you kill someone, Sir..."

"Hmpf. Look the other way and you shall recive a ten dollar raise."

He hadn't even finished his sentence yet when Gumshoe spun around to face away from them. "Gummy!" But he ignored her.

"Look, Edgeworth...", Mr. Wright had a nosebleed now, "I... you're right and I know that, you just pretty much broke my nose and I'm not even mad because you're right, dammit, I'm an idiot. I put the lives of several people on the line because I thought I was right and I know that. And I did it behind your back. Why? Because you are more intelligent that I am. And you would have stopped me. And I knew that, too. And I did it anyway."

Edgeworth sighed. Slowly, the tension left his shoulders. He hunched over a bit, as if he had just remembered that he had been poisoned and was supposed to be weak.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled under his breath. "You may turn around now, Detective. I don't think anyone will be murdered today."

"Ah... yes, Sir!"

"Oh, Mr Delite is alive, if that interests you. He is now being cared for by experts and should not be in any danger of dying." Relief flooded Kay's body. So he wouldn't die, at least. He was safe in the hospital. Speaking of which... "Shouldn't you be in the hospital too, Mr. Edgeworth?"

He shook his head. Next to him, the nurse nodded. He sighed, rolling his eyes. "Well... yes, I suppose I should be, but that is merely a technicalty. I was meant to be send home in three hours, so I doubt that this will impact my health."

"Say, Edgeworth, why are you here, anyway?"

Edgeworth shrugged, almost dropping his crutch. "I met Mr. Blackquill in the hospital. He told me all about what had happened. I called the Detective and he gave me information of Kay's whereabouts. I was..." _...worried._ Aaw.

But she didn't say that. She just nodded. "Yeah, sounds about right." Although, wait, actually... "How did Mr. Blackquill know?!"

"Hm?"

She had just taken his help in the heat of the moment. But, thinking about it now, it was actually weird. With the way he'd appeared to save them, he'd been like an angel, but that wasn't really logical, now was it? "I mean, he just showed up out of nowhere." Why _had_ he been there?

"Well, it appears that Ms. Delite is the most intelligent person in this entire city. Upon learning that her husband was planning to break into a house to find clues about a possibly violent kidnapper, she got worried. But since you, Kay, are not protected by Double Jeopardy as Mr. Delite is, she could not alert the police. Instead she called the prosecutor's office, reasoning that if I am on your side, my subordinates would be, too. She was, fortunally, correct in her assumption. Most prosecutors know Kay."

Okay, now that made sense. It did bring up some thoughts, though... "Ms. Delite sure is something" she said to whoever was listening. "I mean, she alerted Mr. Blackquill, she captured that assassin, she..."  
"Ah... wait a moment, please." Edgeworth coughed, straightened out his cravat, closed his eyes.

And yelled at the top of his lungs. " _MS. DELITE DID_ _ **WHAT**_?!"

Kay, Phoenix and Gumshoe all winced, perfectly synchronized. "Uh... did... did Blackquill not tell you?", asked Phoenix, blinking.

"Well... no, but I did leave instantly after he told me about Kay's injuries. You... surely this must be a jest, right?"

Gumshoe saluted. It would have looked more professional if he had not been grinning. "It's not a joke, Sir. Shelly de Killer's really been captured."

"T-that... I... you..."

Kay chimed in: "Ms. Delite ran him over with her motorcycle, actually. She just saw him running away with Hugh and decided to take action, that was so cool!"

"She... you... that..." Edgeworth gesticulated. "You intend to claim that two thieves, a student, a prosecutor and a motorcyclist managed to catch someone the police has been chasing for years, by _complete accident_!? _Please_ , you _must_ be joking!"

"Not joking at all, Mr. Edgeworth, Sir. I can take you to see him right now."

"Y... you can..." And he gave up.

Kay sighed. She turned to the small nurse and asked: "Is it okay if Mr. Edgeworth does that?"

"Uuuh... well." The nurse shrugged. Good answer.

"I _suppose_...", Edgeworth said slowly, "we might go and see if we can get him to talk. Lead the way, Detective."

"Roger, Sir. Follow me."


	15. Chapter 15

January 05, 06:01 AM

Prison

Interrogation room

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Athena shivered. The room was cold, too cold for her taste.

Mr. Wright had called her in to watch the interrogation. He'd also tried to call Apollo, but he hadn't picked up, was probably still asleep. Normally she would be disappointed in her colleague, but he had spend the whole night with Ms. von Karma.

Speaking of her: Edgeworth had tried to call both her and Mr. Sebastian, but with no success: Ms. von Karma was busy in the hospital, talking to Hugh and Sebastian was in the hospital, too... not as a visitor, but as a patient. The high amount of work had finally taken it's toll on him and he'd joined the evergrowing number of prosecutors who'd collapsed in an office. Poor guy was horribly overworked. Hearing about that, Kay had decided to pay him and Mr. Delite a visit, so now it was only her, Mr. Wright, Mr. Edgeworth and Detective Gumshoe. Slowly but surely, though, she began to wish that she wasn't here.

Of course she had rushed to her feet right after hearing about what had happened. But now she was regretting her desicion. This room was hell.

A thousand emotions pressing down on her, all of them grim. Nothing but sadness, fear and anger. Innocent men who had been wrongly accused. Guilty men who had been allowed to leave. Dead men whose murderer had never been found. Screaming for justice. She could _hear_ them.

She wondered if Blackquill had been here. He had confessed instantly, so had there even been an interrogation? It was easy to imagine him sitting there, calm and collected yet screaming internally. It made her heart ache.

Of course they weren't allowed to be face-to-face with de Killer. They'd been made to stay behind a one-way mirror, watching as Detective Gumshoe tried his best to get information.

It was sobering, somehow. She hadn't know the Detective for that long, but Mr. Wright's stories had already created image of him in her mind... friendly, cheerful, eager to please, not the brightest bulb but always trying his best. And until now, that image had been fairly accurate. It still was, partly. He was still eager to please, not the brightest bulb and trying his best. But the friendly cheerfulness was gone completely. And without that, he was a very large, strong man with very broad shoulders. He was _intimidating_ , something that had been hard to imagine until now.

Their voices were faint through the wall, probably even more so for the other two men who did not have her sharp ears. But it appeared that the Detective hadn't had any luck yet. The problem was de Killer's code of honor... he refused to talk about his client. Everything else - a full confession, explanations on where he'd gotten the Zitraine (from a man who worked at a factory for detergents who had been more than happy to betray his company in exchange for 20.000 dollars) and why he'd choosen Juniper, of all people (alone, not many friends, shy, obedient and easy to intimidate) had been easy to get.

"... _know_ you know details, so just tell us!"

"Pardon me, I'd rather not. My client trusts in me, after all."

Next to her, Mr. Edgeworth shook his head. "This is not going to wield any results, I fear. De Killer is known for his loyality, after all."

"Ugh, don't remind me", grumbled Mr. Wright. He looked extremely annoyed with the whole situation, not that she couldn't understand him. They were pretty much stuck at this point in the investigation now and there was no end in sight.

"...see no reason to disclose such information. Am I not a professional? Please do not invade my private space, good Sir. It won't help."

And the atmosphere! It was crushing her! Just seeing de Killer there in that small chair made her stomach turn with the thought of the thousand other people who had sat in that chair, in this room, denying accusations. Guilty, not guilty! This was like a miniature courtroom of sorts, but the judge was also the prosecution and you had to be your own defense attorney! And the air was cold and depressing, like the cells they'd passed on their way here. She shivered as she thought back to it... and this was the first floor, the 'good' cells for the criminals who wouldn't stay for long, who were only guilty of pickpocketing and similar small crimes. To think of the... the _dungeons_ reversed for the men and women on death row...

Seven years. Innocent. For seven years.

She'd never be able to get over that. Never. Even though it had been solved now. She wondered if Aura was here too, in this prison. Was she? There had been some talk of sending her to a different prison, for reasons Athena couldn't recall. For a moment, she thought about asking Simon about it, but quickly decided against it. No need to open up his wounds.

It was hard to concentrate. Only pieces of the conversation found their way to her. But one of those pieces...

Huh?

"...would I want to betray my client like this? They have done nothing to deserve such a thing."

"They hired a killer, pal! That sounds mighty deserving to me!"

Back up. De Killer's voice... de Killer's _heart_...

She pulled up the Mood Matrix. It was hard to get a good signal, what with the mirror between them, but still, there was clearly...

 _ **Anger**_. And _**Sadness**_.

"Athena? Are you...", asked Mr. Wright and then cut himself of once he realized what she was doing. Mr. Edgeworth was quicker on the uptake, though. Slowly, carefully, he opened the door next to the mirror, interrupting the detective.

"Detective Gumshoe, I belive Ms. Cykes would like to join you in your efforts."

He stared at him and even though she wasn't concentrating on him, she could feel his _**surprise**_. "What? What do you mean by that, Sir?"

Mr. Wright answered for him. "Athena has a few nice abilities regarding emotions. They can help with getting a confession.

The assassin chuckled. "Emotions? You must be mistaken. Surely a man as heartless as me cannot have emotions."

He looked so harmless! But the fear gripped her heart and squeezed it. Calm down. You're not alone.

Yes. Mr. Wright was here and so was Mr. Edgeworth and most importantly, Detective Gumshoe, who - as she could see now - wore a gun holster for one. He was armed. With that in mind, she gathered her courage and said: "N-no... that isn't true. You... have emotions... and a heart, too. And... and if you could please talk." _Please tell us who hired you, Mr. Assassin, pretty please with a cherry on top._ What an approach.

He looked aside. "There is nothing for me to say. I took an order from a client in exchange for payment. I failed to succeed. That is all.

Again. _**Sadness**_. _**Anger**_. Both were understandable towards the end, but... the anger set in earlier.

"Mr... de Killer..." Oh god, her voice was all shaky, "...you are... angry at something or... someone."

He blinked, a short moment of _**surprise**_. "Anger? How interesting. Pray tell, why would I feel like that? All I had to do was pick a random person and kindly ask them to send some poison for me. That order was simple enough as far as I was concerned and the payment was good."

The sadness was gone, replaced with _**happiness**_ and the _**anger**_ was still there. "No... you feel joy, so I belive you... about the good payment and the easy order, but you are also definitly angry! Emotions don't lie!"

"An assassin does not have emotions, I fear. Whatever you detect, you must simply be mistaken. Although I suppose there might be anger, seeing how I was not able to complete my hit. I have not been paid yet, either. But I suppose that is a just combination."

 _ **Happiness**_ at the start, smug and self-righteous. Then _**sadness**_ at his failure, _**anger**_ at not having been paid. All justified, all normal. But there was also... _**happiness**_ , again, when talking about his payment...

Why happiness now, of all things? "There is a small dose of joy there when you talk about not having been paid yet. Why is that?", she asked and felt her professionalism return. Nice!

"Delight at the payment awaiting me, of course. Or do you truly belive that this prison of yours can hold me?", he sneered, but she ignored it. There was something _much_ more interesting there. Still _**happiness**_ , of course, but now the _**anger**_ had returned, stronger than before.

"Your payment. Something about your payment is making you angry", she stated and felt a smile come on. She was on the right track, she just knew it! Noise level was going down, steadily decreasing, perfectly, yes! "That payment... you must really want it! As soon as possible!"

"Hm. Now what could a man like me possibly want, other than a sharp weapon, a good payment and a loyal client?"

And there it was.

 _ **Anger**_. Raw, unfiltered anger pulsing through his words, tearing the air apart as he said the words _loyal client_. Time to jump at it, right here, right now.

"But, your client _wasn't_ loyal. Was he?"

The feeling of victory disappeared as quickly as it had occured. De Killer looked at her with tired eyes. "If my client had betrayed me, do you truly think I would be defending them like this? Refuse to throw them to the dogs? I would see no reason to do so. Or do my emotions speak otherwise?"

"Uh..."

Dammit. He was right, now was he? He smiled, shook his head. "I'll have you know that a client who proves to be not trustworthy will die by my own hand, I will make sure of that."

 _ **Anger**_. And _**Sadness**_.

 _ **Anger**_. _**Sadness**_. A client who proves to be not trustworthy will die...

Another possibility appeared.

"That... client", she said, slowly, testing each word before speaking it. "That... client you are so angry about isn't your current client. They are..." Here it went. "They are... the prize. That's your payment, isn't it? A client who betrayed you..." Her voice faded. There was no answer. The assassin refused to meet her eyes.

But Mr. Wright spoke instead, very quietly, with no emotions in his voice. A name. It sounded familiar to her, but she couldn't pin it down: "Matt Engarde..."

The Mood Matrix blew up.

Well, maybe not completely. But the burst of _**anger**_ , **anger** , **ANGER** at that name was enough to make it short circuit. It flickered for a few seconds, then disappeared.

All she could do was look up at her boss and nod, weakly. He didn't even notice.

"That was your... payment, was it? The life of Matt Engarde... he's still in prison, isn't he? Out of your reach..."

Mr. Edgeworth's voice sounded, from far, far away: "Mr. Engarde is scheduled to be executed in five months. Your time was running out. Letting him get executed meant not punishing him on your own. But killing him meant entering prison, risking everything. And so, for the first time in your life, you took a hit not in exchange for money, but for the chance to take someone's life for yourself..."

De Killer stared at the ground. Then he looked up.

"I exercise my right to remain silent.", he said, then became quiet. Detective Gumshoe sighed, raising a notebook.

"Well, at least we've got that down. Good, job, pal! We need some those weird emotion screens."

"Hm? Oh, they, uh..."

"They are still in development, Detective. Kindly take Mr. de Killer back to his cell now. I will meet Franziska at my office now, in order to discuss the current situation. Once Mr. de Killer is safely locked up, I wish for you to bring me every information we have regarding Matt Engarde. Mr. Wright, Ms. Cykes?"

"What is it, Edgeworth?"

"Knowing you, you will not just go home now. Feel free to search the prison to your hearts content, but you are not allowed to enter the lower levels. You _must_ stay on this floor. Do you understand that? That is the _law_!"

Mr. Wright raised his hands and tried a smile. "Hey, relax. We'll stay on this floor, okay?"

"Good. You have already endangered too many young women in this investigation. I will _not_ allow you to risk Ms. Cykes life. Ms. Cykes, please take care of yourself. This defense attorney might be the deadliest thing in this entire building!"

And with that, Edgeworth turned and left. Athena bit her lip. "Guess he's still... upset about Ms. Faraday, huh?"

"Can you blame him?" Mr. Wright shook his head. "Really, I understand him. Actually, no. I don't understand him. If he had endangered Maya like that, I... I..."

He clenched his fists as he left the room, leaving Gumshoe and the assassin behind. Athena hurried after him. He showed no signs of wanting to finish his sentence. Instead he just changed the topic.

"If we can't check out the lower levels, that limits us to a pretty small area. I guess we could question the inmates. Maybe one of them noticed something." He shrugged and closed the door behind him. "Come on, let's get going."


	16. Chapter 16

Just so you know, I'm leaving for a two-day vacation tomorrow, so there won't be any chapters tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. I'll post two chapters once I'm back to make up for it.

#

#

#

January 05, 06:48 AM

Prison

1\. Floor

#

Phoenix shook his head. He didn't want to say it out loud, but it was pretty hopeless. The people imprisoned on the first floor were mostly just pickpockets and drunkards. They hardly ever even saw the lower levels and the murderers who lived there.

Athena sighed next to him. She, too, was clearly aware of how little they were getting done. Every once in a while, she looked at her phone. He wondered what her reason was.

What could they do? They had talked to everyone who was here. Maybe...

Okay, Athena was starting to distract him. What was she doing?! No, relax. Who else was there? Who else to ask? They had already questioned the guards, but had gained nothing. Mr. Engarde was safe and sure in his cell, as he was supposed to be, and there had been no changes in his behavior, other than the normal anxiety that came with his nearing execution date. Phoenix didn't feel sorry. It almost scared him, how little he felt for the former star. He wasn't the worst person he'd faced, not by far. But he could still feel the fear in his bones, the fear for Maya. And could see Engarde's grin as he showed his true self. And could still...

"Mr. Wright? Are you not feeling good?"

Athena was looking at him, slight worry in her eyes. She was holding her phone, again, but he couldn't catch a glimpse of the screen.

"No... no, I'm fine. I just... what are you doing with that phone, Athena, please. It's really distracting me."

She looked a little guilty now, actually. "I'm really sorry, boss. It's just... I got a text from Apollo a while ago. It was about a piece of evidence, regarding Mr. Gavin. I, ah... forgot about it, what with Juniper being accused and now that whole thing with that assassin, but... I texted Apollo earlier, so he knows what we found out as soon as he wakes up and I remembered it then. It's... uh..." She sighed. "I suppose I should tell you my... I should tell you why I'm worried."

Her fingers toyed around with Widget. "You see, there was a note found in Mr. Gavin's room, with some German song lyrics on them. Now, I think that... oh?"

She stopped, stared down at her phone. "Apollos writing something. He... he..."

Her mouth fell open, her eyes went wide. Then, before Phoenix could say another word, she turned around and ran towards the exit. "ATHENA! WAIT!"

"NO TIME!", she yelled back, just before passing through the door, "I'LL EXPLAIN LATER! CALL ME WHEN YOU'RE DONE HERE, MR. WRIGHT!"

And with that, she was gone. Phoenix stared at nothing, trying to contemplate what had just happened. But then a voice tore him from his thoughts, a voice coming from behind him.

"Excuse me, Mister, but... are you Mr. Phoenix Wright?"

#

January 05, 06:10 AM

Dye-Young Hospital

Room 18

#

Unbeknownst to Athena, she had been somewhat mistaken about Apollo's whereabouts. True, he had spend the night with Ms. von Karma and true, he was indeed asleep. But he wasn't at home.

He and Ms. von Karma had been in the middle of organizing fingerprint data when Winston Payne - of all people - had barged into their room and had stammered a completely unintelligible mess of words before grabbing them both and pulling them all the way into Mr. Gavin's office, where Mr. Sebastian was still sleeping on the couch... except, as Payne finally managed to tell them, he _wasn't_ asleep, he was unconcious. Of course, all three of them had responded to that with an immense burst of Zitraine panic, followed by calling the hospital. But as it turned out, Sebastian hadn't been poisoned at all. He was just horribly, horribly overworked.

Now the prosecutor had been made to stay at the hospital until he woke up and Apollo, who had followed the ambulance at von Karma's request, had found himself in this cursed hospital once more. And what else to do but make his way to room 18, check on Klavier just in case something had changed and then, upon realizing that nothing had changed, climb into an empty hospital bed to get some much-needed sleep? He'd woken up once, for a brief moment when Ms. Byrde had opened the door for whatever reason. But she hadn't bothered him, even though he was rather certain that she had seen him. Only seconds later, he'd fallen asleep again.

Dreams. Weird dreams, as they were so common at the moment. Juniper Woods was kneeling on the ground, clutching a box in her hands. With a loud _CRACK_ , von Karma's whip hit her from behind and she exploded into a burst of chocolate bars. Apollo picked one of them up and took off the wrapping, revealing his own phone. There was a text message from Athena there, but it was all in German and he couldn't read it and when he looked up to ask von Karma for help she was gone, replaced with Mr. Sebastian. They locked eyes for a second, then the prosecutor collapsed, except that instead of crashing onto the floor, he just fell right through it and no, no _there was no floor in the first place_ because they had been floating and now Apollo fell down, landing right on top of the weird girl they'd met in Mr. Edgeworth's room... Kay, right? She waved to him and disappeared in a shower of sparkles. And somewhere, someone was saying something, a name maybe or a nickname or...

"...Forehead. Herr Forehead..."

Apollo's eyes flew open as he heard the voice. It was still there, it was not a dream, it was... it was...

"Herr Forehead!"

 _Klavier!_

He was up on his feet in a heartbeat, all over Klavier in a heartbeat, spread out over the other man's bed with his arms wrapped around him in a heartbeat. Three heartbeats. That was all it took for him to grab Klavier tightly and pull him into an embrace.

"Ah! Herr... Herr Fore...head...?" His voice was weak. It was weak but it was there, he was there, he was awake...

"K-klav... Mr. Gavin..." he whispered, loosening his grip and stepping back. Klavier stared at him, wide-eyed and confused.

"Herr Forehead, as much as I enjoy the attention, I... I... where..." He broke of, staring right through Apollo. Only now did he seem to realize that he was in a hospital. "Did I..." He blinked, then looked up at the clock and grimaced. "Oh, thank god, it's not eight yet, maybe I can get the rest of my papers done before eight, otherwise Mr. Edgeworth will be..."

He tried to get up, then stopped. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he slowly let himself sink back into the pillows. Apollo placed one hand on his chest, to keep him down.

"Mr. Gavin, you... Mr. Edgeworth knows you're here, you don't have to work today." What a dumb thing to say. But his brain was somewhat failing him right now.

"Really. Oh, good. Do you know who got assigned to my case? The one with the... gardener and the maid?"

"Uhm..." He hadn't even heard of that case. "I think Mr. Sebastian took care of that." That was probable. Poor guy had done near everything. No wonder he'd collapsed.

"' _Took_ care'? Past tense, Herr Forehead...?" Klavier trailed off, confusion in his eyes. Eyes which then proceeded to widen. "What... what day is it?"

Oh. OH! Of course, Klavier had _no idea..._ "Uh, January fifth. You were unconcious for three days..."

Had it really only been three days? It had felt like a lifetime. Like several centuries. But yes, he'd been poisoned on January second. And after that, time had just... stopped.

"I... ich... was... why? Was ist passiert?!"

Apollo had no clue what that meant. But it didn't matter, because thinking about it now, wasn't he maybe supposed to call someone? "Hang on a second, I'll fetch a doctor!"

"Herr Forehead, wait! Warte!" But Apollo didn't listen, just ran out of the room to find the nearest doctor.

In the end, he did find somebody. Unfortunally, that also meant that he would not be allowed in Klavier's room for a while. He slumped down in the hallway, right there on the cold floor and found himself breathing freely for the first time in three days.

Klavier was fine. Klavier. Was. Fine. Beautiful words. What an amazing world this was, where these three words held true. Klavier was _fine_. He wanted to run outside, climb a tree and yell those words at the top of his lungs, put all the power of his chords of steel into screaming this single sentence to everyone who was there to hear it. But instead, he just quietly pulled out his phone. Oh... Athena had texted him...

#

 _Athena, 6:03: So, uh._

 _Athena, 6:03: Kay Faraday (you know the weird girl) and some guy named Ron Delite (he was Mr. Wrights client once i think?) went to check out that place in the picture._

 _Athena, 6:03: Turns out the person who was blackmailing Junie was an assassin named Shelly de Killer. He's pretty big when it comes to hired killers, so..._

 _Athena, 6:04: He kind of tried to kill them?_

 _Athena, 6:04: Like, that Ron Delite guy pretty much got gutted I think? And Kay twisted her ankle? Oh, and we found Hugh. He's alive, so that's good. Also, the reason de Killer didn't, like, managed to kill anyone was because Simon and the wife of that Delite guy showed up and saved them, but they're both injured, too._

 _Athena, 6:05: Then the police arrived and took the assassin with them. They tried to interrogate him, but it didn't work, so I moodmatrixed him. Apparently he was doing this all to get his hands on a man named Matt Engarde, who betrayed him once or stuff like that. So, we still don't really know who's behind everything. I'm at prison with the boss right now, searching for clues._

#

Apollo stared at it.

Amazing. Amazing to think that there had been a time where things like that _hadn't_ happened. A time where he'd seriously belived his life would be straightforward. He liked to think of it as the 'Wright-Effect'. Once you got involved with Phoenix Wright, you could just as well stop trying to think in a straight, logical line. Well, unless you were Mr. Edgeworth, who was somehow immune...

He typed a quick response... just ' _Klavier woke up_ ', nothing more, then leaned back against the wall and let time carry on.

#

January 05, 07:02 AM

Prison

1\. Floor

#

Phoenix turned around, not sure what to expect. He came to face a slender woman with long, bushy brown hair. She wore a standard prison uniform, but there was a single rose in her hair and she carried a fan, cheap plastic, yet also adorned with roses.

"Y-yes, I am Phoenix Wright, attorney at law. Why do you ask?" Did he know this woman? She didn't look familiar...

"Please apologize my sudden appearance. When that young lady called you Mr. Wright, it caught my interest. My name is Katherine Halls."

She offered him her hand and smiled as she shook it. "It's nice to meet you. I, uh... I'm really sorry, have we met before? Because I..."

"Oh, no, we've certainly never met in person. We merely share an aquaintance. Mr. Edgeworth told me about you."

How many weird women did Edgeworth _know_? "Really? Are you a friend of his?"

A shrug. "I suppose. He is the reason I am in prison. No, don't look so shocked, I really was guilty. I stole art, hid a corpse and tried to kill a man. I had reasons, but I understand that these reasons do not hold up against the law. My sentence ends this year, so it's pretty much over."

God. But that was Edgeworth for you. He just... _didn't mention_ things like this, on the basis that they weren't important. Huh. When had he thought _that_ before?

"He visits me sometimes, usually along with Mr. Shields, if you know him..." Phoenix did. After losing his badge, he'd sent every client who came along to that person, at Edgeworth's request. He himself had only met Mr. Shields once or twice, but he knew that the defense attorney was friends with Edgeworth. "It was during those visits that he mentioned you. He seems to think rather highly of you, so... I got curious. Is there a reason you are here?"  
Who knew. Perhaps this was just what he needed. "Yes, and maybe you can help me, too..."


	17. Chapter 17

I came home early, so you do get Uploads today. Like I promised, I'll upload 2 chapters. This is chapter 1 of 2.

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January 05, 07:08

Prison

1\. Floor

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Katherine smiled up at him and fanned some air into his general direction. "I'd be happy to help you, if I can. What do you need?"

"Information. Information regarding Matt Engarde. Do you know anything?"

She spun her fan around in her fingers, tapping her chin with it. "Ah... I don't really know much about him. I've read about his case in the newspaper, but I suppose you know all about that. You were the defense, after all... what else, now? I've seen him once or twice, during events. Always surrounded by guards, of course. He tried to flirt with me once. Offered me a glass of brandy. I... declined and he... wasn't happy. The guard had to taze him."

Phoenix grimaced. "I... see. He's as horrible as ever, isn't he?"

"Unfortunally, yes. I've heard he considers himself the king of death row. He steals food from the weaker inmates like Miss Miney and Mr. L'Belle. And some of the guards refuse to be alone with him. Oh, and there must be someone who smuggles him brandy, at times. It just got worse when his cat Shoe died. He refused to get a new pet and ever since then, he's been even more violent. He also..."

"Wait, wait! Hold it!"

Hands raised, Phoenix stared at her. What... what? That made no sense. That. Made. No. Sense.

"Uh... for, uh, for someone who said that they don't know much about him, you, ah... do know pretty much.", he stuttered. He was, to be honest, cofused. Not that that was uncommon, mind you...

She chuckled. "Well, I guess I do know a little. I used to be friends with a man jailed for life for murder. He was a little closer to the death row inmates and used to tell me things about them."

"Jailed for life?"

"Yes. He was quite fond of my coffee. Said the prison coffee was ripe with cruelty and forgotten dreams and that it was too bitter even for him, so I mixed him something sweet with leftover caramel from my cooking lessons. He told me it was _too_ sweet and nothing for a real man such as him, but two hours later he came back for another cup."

Huh. That sounded a lot like...

"W-what was his name?"

"Diego Armando, although most people called him Godot." _Knew it_.

"I know him", Phoenix said. "How's he doing?"

He was met with silence. Katherine bit her lip. Oh. That wasn't good, was it? What had...

"He... died three years ago."

Oh.

Phoenix felt faint.

"I... didn't know", he managed to whisper. "How... how did he...?"

"He died of an old head injury. Got blood poisoning from it, I think. He fought it, but, well..." She looked down at the ground and Phoenix did the same. He felt... empty inside, like he'd been hollowed out. Slowly, he swallowed. "I... understand. Thank you for telling me..." He'd have to tell Maya. He'd have to tell Pearls. He'd have to tell Edgeworth. He'd have to visit Godot's grave one day and maybe pour a cup of coffee over it...

A soft hand touched his shoulder. "I'm really sorry Mr. Wright. I... did not know he was a friend of yours. He never mentioned you... ah, he did mention lawyers at times, but never with names, so..."

"Don't apologize. It's... not your fault, really. I'm sorry. Please, do you know anything else?"

Deep breaths. Katherine pondered for a moment, then her face lit up.

"Oh! Yes, yes! Just last week, I overheard a piece of a phone call during which Mr. Engarde was mentioned!"

Phone call!

He wanted to latch onto the possibility like a desperate vampire, but he'd done that before. Instead he jumped it like a starved werewolf.

"What... what was the call about?!"

She shrugged, somehow making it look ladylike. "I don't eavesdrop, Mr. Wright. All I heard was something about doing something 'for Matt Engarde, if you understand what I mean'. I don't know more than that."

 _If you understand what I mean._ That was it, that had to be it! "Do you know who made the call?!"

Katherine smiled. Opened her fan, closed her fan. Opened it again. "You're lucky. I saw them when they left the phone booth."

"AND?!"

Another smile.

"It was Kristoph. Kristoph Gavin."

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January 05, 07:02 AM

Dye-Young Hospital

Hallway

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"APOLLO!"

Apollo looked up to find Athena, rushing towards him. Her hair was close to coming undone, the hair tie hanging low enough to fall out. She came to a stop in front of her colleague and quickly fixed her hairdo, panting as she did so. "Apollo! Is it true?! Is he really...?"

He knew that he was grinning like a complete nutcase, but he hardly even cared. Part of him had to mentally prepare for the words he was just about to say. He had to say something grand, something truly majestetic to fit the situation. He'd have to use synonyms and antonyms and other fancy words and... "Yep! Klavier's all awake now!"Oh. Okay then.

But Athena didn't care much for the wording, she cared for the meaning. With a cry of joy, she wrapped her arms around Apollo. "Oh Apollo, I'm so happy for you!" For _me_?! "So how is he doing?"

"He was pretty confused when I left to fetch a doctor. I guess they're answering his questions right now. Nurse Byrde _promised_ me I'd get to see him once they're done with their check-up."

With a sigh, Athena lowered herself to the floor beside him. "So now we just wait?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

She bit her lip. "I kinda left the boss behind earlier. Maybe I'll type him a message..."

Apollo opened his mouth to remind her that phones were forbidden here, but then he stopped. He himself had disobeyed that rule so many times by now, he wasn't allowed to complain. So he just watched as she tipped around on her phone.

"So... Matt Engarde, huh? I remember reading about that story."

She nodded absentmindetly. "The boss told me about it in detail during our prison investigation. Huh. Wonder if he found anything by now. By the way, how did things go at the prosecutor's building? I heard Mr. Sebastian dropped from exhaustion?"

"Yes, he did. Oh, but he's fine. I took him here and he's awake again. He'll stay the day, just in case, but there shouldn't be anything to worry about. Mr. Edgeworth even sent him flowers."

Athena looked up in surprise. "He did? Really?"

"He probably feels a little guilty for giving Sebastian that much work."

An eyeroll. "He was unconcious, what was he supposed to do? Appear in Mr. Sebastian's dreams and tell him to keep it slow? Still, it's nice." She hesitated and added: "He's a pretty good boss, isn't he?"

"Sure is. Mr. Gavin says he's strict and pretty emotionless, but always fair and ready to help. And I bet that _he_ doesn't make his employees clean the toilet every day!"

She chuckled and put her phone away. "Imagine Simon cleaning the toilet, though."

Apollo couldn't help but snort. "Or Mr. Gavin. I'd pay to see _that_."

Their burst of laughter was cut short when the door next to Apollo opened and two doctors stepped out, accompanied by two nurses. One of them was Ms. Byrde, who smiled at them and adressed Apollo: "You may go back in now if you want to."

"Y-yes... thank you." His legs were shaking as he got up, quivering in his shoes. He was nervous and couldn't understand why. After all, Klavier was fine now, so what could he be afraid off?

The murderer. The murderer who had failed and might now try again.

Push the thought aside. Don't think. Klavier was safe. The prosecutors, the police, the hospital staff, the entire city had their eyes on him. He was safe.

With a deep breath, Apollo followed Athena into the room.

Klavier was sitting in his bed, supported by several pillows to keep him from toppling down. He seemed tired still and there were bags under his eyes, but he was grinning and his left hand was busy twisting his loose hair into a drill. It made Apollo glow inside.

"Kl... I mean, Mr. Gavin."

The prosecutor looked up and gave them a cheerful wave. "There you are, Herr Forehead! And you brought the Fräulein along, too!"

"He sure did. How are ya feeling, Mr. Gavin?"

Klavier directed his gaze at the ceiling. "Like a truck ran me over. Is it... true? I've been..." He swallowed hard, "...p-poisoned?"

Athena nodded and together, they filled Klavier in on everything he had missed. He questioned every detail in disbelief, frequently demanding that they repeated something for his sake. It took almost thirty minutes, but then he was finally satisfied.

"I... see. That is... I... ach..." He bit his lip and decided to stay quiet. Athena smiled at him. "It all right, Mr. Gavin, I'm sure it's confusing for you. Just relax, we'll take care of everything."

He nodded.

And froze.

And whimpered.

Apollo stared at him. "Mr... Mr. Gavin?"

" _I'm okay!_ "

It was the equivalent of Apollo's "I'm fine!", but Apollo really hoped that the despair he usually felt while saying those words wasn't _this_ obvious. Klavier was shivering, eyes wide, teeth forced together so hard, Apollo feared they might crack. He was unraveling his hair again, wrapping it around his own hand until his fingers turned red. "I'm okay! I just... the date! What's the date today? I... I forgot! Scheiße, I forgot!"

Hands in his blonde hair, pulling it until a few strands tore off. He ripped them apart, still shivering, still baring his teeth in a weird mixture of emotions before he dug right back in to rip out another strand.

Athena answered his question, a slight stutter in her voice: "It's... it's the fifth of January..."

Klavier wailed.

It sounded pained. It sounded like a dog who's tail had been stepped on not with sandals or sneakers, but with heavy iron cleats. "T-THAT'S THREE DAYS! I... I lost... nein, nein, das kann nicht... drei Tage... I need more _time_..."

Apollo opened his mouth to ask what he needed time for, but before he could get a single word out, the door opened to reveal Franziska von Karma, phone in hand. She was frowning, but this particular frown seemed darker and more glum than usually. "Ah... Apollo Justice, Athena Cykes. I did not expect to see you here, but it is rather practical. First of all, however... good evening, Klavier Gavin. It is a pleasure to see that you are indeed healthy."

She curtsied and Klavier replied with a grin. "Long time, no see, Fräul... gnhg."

And he shoved his own fist into his mouth. Ms. von Karma didn't even seem to notice.

"My brother wished to visit you on his own, but I fear he is quite busy as of now. We were busy discussing our current knowledge of this case when we recived a message from Phoenix Wright. It not only gave us additional information, but also informed us of Mr. Gavin's situation."

Athena grinned. "Nice, and? Did he figure anything out?"

Ms. von Karma fell silent.

There was a feeling of dread in the air. Apollo hadn't known her for that long, but up until now, the woman had projected an image of... confidence, an image of danger and strenght. Now, however, that image had disappeared. Ms. von Karma was just a normal woman right now. Apollo noticed how small she was. He noticed her impractical heels. He noticed the way she held the whip, like it was keeping her alive. It was sobering and he swallowed hard. This wasn't good, it couldn't be.

Finally, Franziska spoke up. "I... am very sorry, Klavier Gavin. I know how this must be for you. Please understand that you are not alone with this. We... have discovered the name of the man who has attempted to take your life."

Athena squealed in shock and exitement and Klavier stared at von Karma with wide-open eyes, shivering. "You... you... who? Who did...?"

Yes, who?! But Apollo wasn't sure if he _wanted_ to know. The way von Karma was acting...

"Again, I... am sorry. But we have checked the information we have gotten and it is clear now. The criminal is almost certainly your brother, Kristoph Gavin."

Silence.

And then the silence was interrupted by a mixture of sobbing and... laughter.

There were tears running over Klavier's face, but he was smiling widely. "I s-suppose... the two of us h-had... the s-same i... idea... h-ha... ha... hng..."

Wait. The same...

"...idea", echoed Athena, who had apparently thought the same. Klavier buried his face in his shaking hands, still smiling. "I... I guess there's a joke in there, but I c-can't... can't find it..."

He wiped his tears away and took a deep breath. His smile changed, got more somber.

"Ah... please, excuse me... I guess they didn't inform you, Herr Forehead... I thought they had..."

"In...informed me of what?" This was going to get worse, was it? He felt it from his toes to the tip of his hair horns. And he wasn't disappointed.

"My brother... Kris, he's... ah... he is set to be..."

Another deep breath. And then he said it.

"Set to be... executed. Next week."


	18. Chapter 18

This is chapter 2 of 2 today. Don't miss the first one!

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January 05, 07:49 AM

Dye-Young Hospital

Room 18

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Athena couldn't breathe. She'd never met Kristoph Gavin, had only heard of him through Apollo. But she could feel the pain in Klavier's voice, clamping down on his heart and tearing it apart. She could hear the tears he was trying to hold back. He was breaking.

Next to her, Apollo was falling into nothingness. There was a lack of emotions there, just disbelief and fear of the truth. She took his hand. It felt cold, tired.

And then, in this mixture of pain, sadness and horror which was threatning to destroy her from the inside out there was Ms. von Karma and she was feeling...

...confusion?

That was enough to tear her away from the emotional tornado and get her to concentrate. Not a second to soon, because Ms. von Karma spoke up: "That is impossible!"

Klavier wiped the tears from his eyes. There was a sparkle of hope in his heart, but it was small. "What do you mean? I... I know he's..."

 _CRACK_!

Whip leather hit the tiled floor and Athena winced. At least, she reckoned, the woman hadn't aimed at a human person. Still...

"Listen up, you foolish fool! You're displaying an absolutely foolish knowledge of law! He has been jailed for how long now, one year? Two years? Executing an inmate at such an early date is simply unthinkable! He would need to stay in prison at least six years before they could even think about hanging him!"

No one said anything.

Of course. Of course. Seven years, at least seven years. Alone in the dark. But at least _this_ man was truly guilty. She bit her lip.

Everyone had fallen silent. Apollo was staring through the wall at something that was invisible to everybody who wasn't him. Klavier had leaned back into his heap of pillows. His eyes were closed. There were still tears, but he was calm now. When he finally interrupted the silence, it was with a smile, much softer than his earlier one: "Ms. von Karma... if you could perhaps see that that gets corrected..."

She gave a sharp nod. "I will most certainly. And I will also find whoever is responsible for this... mistake. It is certainly possible that the fear of his own approaching death drove him to try and take his own brother's life."

How horrible he must have felt, his execution coming closer with every day. How horrible _Klavier_ must have felt, knowing that his brother's death was just a week away. No wonder he'd thought about...

"Klavier Gavin, please do not concern yourself with this any further. I will now meet up with Mr. Wright and that scruffy detective and then we will resolve this issue as soon as possible. Remain calm and stay here until you feel better. That is an order. Understood?"

"Y..." and before Klavier could say anything else, she turned around and left, whipping the wall as she left.

Klavier turned to Athena and Apollo. His tears had stopped, the noise in his heart had died down. He smiled once more, ever so weakly. "Herr Forehead, can you do me a favor? You too, Fräulein Cykes, if you please."

"Uh... sure. What is it?", Apollo asked, but Athena already knew. Still, she kept quiet.

"I... want you to go visit my brother for me. Ask him... ask him _why_..."

His voice died down, but they knew what he'd been going for. Athena placed a hand on his chest.

"Don't worry. We'll go visit him. We promise."

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January 05, 08:47 AM

Prison

Archive

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"Found anything yet?"

"Can't you answer that yourself, Phoenix Wright?"

"So, no? Fine."

"Sir, can I..." _CRACK_! "OOOOWWW!"

"Less talking, more searching, Scruffy!"

The three of them had found themselfes face to face with the paper avalanche the prison called "archive". It was a prison in itself. A prison for paperwork. This was where documents came to die. Although they had managed to discover something which might be a stack of execution orders, it was impossible to find any kind of pattern in them. Orders which were several centuries old were side to side with orders made just a few weeks ago. It was complete chaos. No wonder that Kristoph Gavin's execution had been set too early!

Oh, here was the execution order regarding Mr. Blackquill. The word "AQUITTED"was stamped over it in red ink. So they had at the very least been orderly enough to notice his aquittal.

"Sir! I found something, Sir!"

Gumshoe saluted hastily and Phoenix grinned. It appeared that the detective's fear of von Karma's whip was actually making him more competent.

"Here, Sir!" The detective held out a crumpled piece of paper. Ms. von Karma took it, straightened it out and began to read. After a while, she nodded.

"Well done, Scruffy. Perhaps you did deserve that promotion after all. This really is Kristoph Gavin's execution order. And it looks valid enough. Does either of you recognize this signature?"

Phoenix threw a look over her shoulder and saw a signature which was very round and quite beautiful. However, it was also completely unreadable. And he couldn't remember it from anywhere...

Gumshoe bit his lip. His forehead furrowed as he slowly said: "It... does look familiar, Sir. But..."

Franziska nodded. "Yes. I do feel like I've seen it before, too. But I don't know who..."

The detective saluted again. "Sir, if you want to, I can compare it to the signatures of everyone authorized to sign execution orders! That way, we will see exactly who signed this!"

Ms. von Karma raised her whip ever so slightly. Gumshoe winced. He seemed to get smaller, as if he was trying to hide behind the mountains of paper. "Uuh..."

But then Franziska nodded. "Fine, go do that, Scruffy. Phoenix Wright, the two of us shall continue searching. Perhaps we can find another document, signed by the same person."

And with that, she threw herself back into the ocean of dead documents. Phoenix watched on for just few seconds. Then he followed, before she could decide to whip him for it.

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January 05, 08:45 AM

Prison

Visior's room

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Athena knew how to do this. She'd done it so man times before. She knew where to sign, what to say, when to take off all metallic objects in order to get searched, when to follow, when to wait. She knew what arguments to use when the prison guard said that the "inmate in question does not wish to receive visitors at the moment". She knew how to get what she wanted. And as she, along with Apollo, was led over to the visitor's room, she expected - deep inside her mind - to see Blackquill waiting behind the glass, hands on his back, refusing to face her.

Instead, she saw an empty room. They had to fetch Kristoph first, and thus she sat down, Apollo at her side. He was shivering.

"This looks like a... darker version of the detention center", he whispered and he was right. A thick wall of bulletproof glass seperated them from a small room with nothing but a few chairs inside. She knew that, when visiting someone who wasn't on death row, one was allowed to actually go in there, sit down next to them like a normal person. But death row inmates were treated more like feral animals. It made her shiver inside.

With a squeak, a heavy iron door opened and in stepped Kristoph Gavin, chains around his wrists and accompanied by two large, burly guards. He didn't look up, just allowed himself to be led to one of the chairs. There, he sat down, motionless. He didn't speak.

Athena couldn't breathe.

She found herself remembering the phantom. His emotional emptyness had felt like a bottomless pit, but at least there had been... a bridge there or maybe a safety net, formed by his fear of his identity being discovered. But right here, right now...

Kristoph Gavin was feeling _absolutely nothing._

"I can't belive I ever trusted you", it sounded next to her and it took her a moment to remember Apollo. She looked over to her colleague and under normal circumstances, his anger would have prompted an instant Mood Matrix session. But right now...

Still, he was furious, his fists clenched and teeth bared. His glare was fixed on Kristoph and his voice was low as he hissed: "You are _sick_. You are a _monster_. This world will be a better one once you are finally dead."

"Apollo..."

"You already hurt so many people! Do you really hate him that much?!"

"Apollo!"

"How many people do you want to kill!? And you don't even..."

"APOLLO! I don't think he can hear you!", yelled Athena and Apollo stopped.

"What do you mean by that? He's right here, of course he..."

Trapped. Trapped in a thing. A box thing. A coffin? Yes.

She shook her head. "No. He doesn't. And... Apollo? I... I'm not sure if he can hear anything right now."

Apollo looked like he wanted to object, but she just looked at him and he decided to keep quiet. Thus, she continued: "I... don't know what happened. But this man right there is broken."

He blinked, slowly. "B... broken?"

Trapped in a coffin. No sight, no sound, no smells. Walls. No way to communicate. Screaming. No one would hear it. So, silence. First outside. Then inside.

"He's feeling nothing, Apollo. No fear, no sadness, no joy, no anger, nothing. I'm not even sure if he's still... still capable of feeling anything at all. I... I've heard of this, but... how..."

Kristoph paid no attention to them. He was looking through the ceiling, staring at the sky he couldn't see. Apollo bit his lip. "Black Psychelocks..."

Confused, she looked up at him. "What?"

"Nothing. So... he has no feelings? But then why would he want to kill..."

He was right. It made no sense, to kill without reason...

"It might have been a short burst of emotion. Just long enough to..." ...come up with the most complicated murder plan in the history of the universe? Apollo's objection was justified, clearly, and he continued: "If you are right, then why would he have tried to kill Klavier..."

 _ **Surprise...**_

No. No, wait. Had that been her imagination? Or had there really been a sign on humanity just there, a moment of emotion? She listened up, focussing on Mr. Gavin, but there was nothing but emptyness. But she had heard something... she was certain...

There had been a second of shock, of _horror_ at Apollo's words. A moment of horror... because of Klavier's fate...

 _If_ \- and that _if_ was growing with every second - if Kristoph Gavin really had tried to kill his own brother, then it had been affect based. But that was impossible, because the heat of the moment didn't last long enough to kidnap another inmate so that he could hire an assassin to kidnap a student to force said student's friend into sending a package chock full of poison to his victim. God, this was ridiculous. And that meant, unfortunally...

"Apollo?", she whispered, not taking her eyes off the poor inmate.

"Hm?"

"I think we are on the wrong track."

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January 05, 09:17 AM

Prison

Archive

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"Uh, Sir? There, uh... there might be a problem."

Phoenix and Franziska looked p as Gumshoe entered the archive, the document still in his hands. He was eyeing the whip as he spoke, making sure to keep a distance to von Karma. She crossed her arms.

"That problem better not be your fault, Scruffy."

"N-no, Sir! I compared the signature, like you ordered, and, well..."

"Well what?" _CRACK_! "Spit it out, fool!"

The whip didn't hit, but he winced anyway. "S-sir! This signature doesn't match! There's no one authorized to sign execution orders who has a signature like that!"

Ms. von Karma stared down at the heap of paper surrounding her feet. Then she sighed. "That fits, unfortunally. We have not been able to discover any other document signed by this person."

It was kind of embarassing, but Phoenix had no clue who could sign these orders anyway. Maybe he should try to read one of Mia's lawbooks again... "So, uh, what does that mean?"

He grinned and Franziska rolled her eyes. "Your foolishness knows no boundaries, Phoenix Wright. I suppose I might as well tell you. There is a chance, however small, that this was signed by someone who does not usually have this authority, but had been given it for a small while. For example, to sign it in the name of someone else. If an inexperienced person had done it, it might explain the mistake regarding the date. The second option is that the person who signed this no longer works here. But that is unlikely, because then he - or she - would have signed more things than just this one. Which leads us to the third option. Namely, that the person who signed this didn't have any authority. Tht would make it a crime."

Phoenix blinked as he tried to save that wall of text to his brain. "What... do we do now?"

 _CRACK_! "Scruffy!"

"WAH! Y-yes, Sir!?"

Franziska pointed at the paper. "Take this back to the police station and have someone do a handwriting analysis, just in case. Phoenix Wright, I will leave now to inform my little brother. You may do whatever you wish, but I hope for your sake that it nets results."

He nodded. Maybe he would meet up with Apollo and Athena, ask them about Kristoph Gavin. It was not guaranteed to "net results", but it couldn't hurt either.


	19. Chapter 19

January 05, 10:48 AM

Prosecutor's Building

Chief Prosecutor's office

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Edgeworth stared at the table. He didn't understand this case and that made his head hurt.

He'd gotten news from his sister, regarding a falsely signed document. He had also taken a look at the signature in question, which had done little to ease his headache. If anything, it had made things worse because it looked... familiar. Not only to him, but also to Gumshoe and Franziska. But they all saw so many signatures every day. Impossible to remember a single one. Perhaps they were even just imagining it.

And then there had been the short text message from Wright he had gotten mere minutes ago. Apparently, Ms. Cykes didn't think that Kristoph was guilty after all... and she had justified it with emotions. Something which was hard to ignore, since he'd seen her in action. Yes, Ms. Cykes' feelings were nothing one could just overlook. And everything Wright had written sounded convincing.

Tea, he needed tea. No tea bag stuff right now... real leaves. Did he still have any? Yes. What even was that?

Who cares, just drink it.

Oh. White tea, apparently. Why did he own that? He wasn't a big fan of white tea. Had that been a gift? Probably.

He decided to use sugar for once.

...

That had been to much. Now he was drinking hot sugary water.

Whatever. Drink it.

The main problem was that he couldn't find a flaw in his logic. Everything pointed to Kristoph Gavin. They had even checked the recording of that phone call Ms. Halls - may the gods bless that woman - had overheard and it was obvious that it had been a hit order. It had laid out the entire plan - to kidnap someone and force a friend of said person to send that cursed package. It had included a list of objects that could be poisoned - not all of them had managed to make it into the final box, for example, there were no straws and no flute, both things which had been mentioned - and the adress the gift should be send to. That was, of course, the prosecutor's office.

Another thing speaking against the former defense attorney, because surely the man knew where his brother _lived_...

Unfortunally, the recording hadn't been very good. Still he was sure he'd gotten all the important things... he was _sure_ of it...

He was up now, pacing through the room. What else? Anything they had overlooked?

...

It was an overly complicated plan, true. So there might as well have been another layer to it. So far, everything seemed to be planned in such a way as to hide the true criminal from sight. A randomly picked law student with little to no information. An assassin who never betrayed his client. And the package itself, disguised as a fan present. What a plan! So... if there were already three things between victim and criminal, why not add a fourth one? Add in an inmate, mentally broken, who could send out a message...

 _and then forge an execution order to ensure he can't spill any secrets._

Yes. Yes! It did explain things! But not everything, unfortunally, because then who... who..

Who was the mastermind behind it, dear lord?!

Okay, no. Stay calm. Go over this case once more, front to back. Klavier Gavin had been poisoned. That much was certain. Poison had been found in a package. There was a time discrepancy, but that had been explained by Mr. Gavin having fainted due to unrelated circumstances...

They still didn't know anything about that.

Although, there had been a problem with his lungs, right? There had even been talk about an operation. Edgeworth wondered if these things were connected...

Anyway, it was an unrelated reason, therefore not important. What else? The package in question had been send by Juniper Woods, through the shipping company Globetime. It had arrived at the prosecutor's office at around twelve and had been accepted by... Larry...

No.

No. Could it be...

After all, when something smells, it's usually...

Really? How foolish had they all been!? To accept and belive testimony from Larry... from _Larry_ , the king of perjury! From Larry! Everything that man had ever said at needed to be double-, triple- and quaddruple checked just to verify that it had been said in the first place!

He wasn't usually one to run, but now he ran. Opening the hidden safe, where he'd kept the package. And a feeling of dread came over him as he realized something.

He'd checked the contents of the box. He hadn't checked the box.

He hadn't checked the _adress_.

...

Well...

Larry didn't... no, wait, Larry _did_ know that name, but that had been a long time ago. Perhaps he could be forgiven. And yes, if one squinted a little and didn't pay attention to the comma , one _could_ belive that to be two words. One _could_ belive that to be german.

But it wasn't.

Franziska had checked the adress. But again, if one read this with the _belief_ that it was written in bad german, then...

But it _wasn't_.

It was so obvious. In a way, it had been obvious from the very beginning. When something smells, it's usually the Butz.

 _To Debeste, Prosecutor_

#

January 05, 11:09 AM

Dye-Young Hospital

Room 15

#

"Y... you mean... the real target was..."

Sebastian was staring up at Edgeworth, eyes wide open in horror. Already there were tears starting to collect.

Careful here. Sebastian had grown a lot, true. But he was still, at heart, somewhat childish and very easy to hurt. And that was contraproductive. Edgeworth coughed and tried to find the correct words.

"I'm afraid that yes, that is the case. This deadly gift was never intended for Mr. Gavin. It was intended for you. Meaning that someone out there wíshes to end your life."

And there were the tears. He wasn't even sobbing, just crying silently. He was shivering, wrapping the white hospital blanket around his shoulders tightly. Right here, right now, he looked like a terrified lost child. This couldn't be healthy for him. He was already so very tired...

"B-but who would want to k-kill... d-do you think it was a d-delayment I b-brought to justice?"

He sniffed, then wiped his tears. "N-no... not delayment, uh... it's..."

And he looked up at Edgeworth, who took a deep breath. "The word you are searching for is delinquent, I belive."

Messing up words. That was worrying. Sebastian had gained a very good grasp of spoken language by now and only ever made mistakes when he was truly upset. This was not good at all.

"T-thanks... but..."

Could it be a deliquent? Stay logical. And most importantly, stay calm. Sebastian needed something to hang onto right now and Edgeworth knew very well that the something in question would have to be he himself. Thus, calmness.

"First, we must consider what we know about the criminal in question. We know that this person most likely does not know your adress, seeing how they send their deadly gift to the prosecutor's building as opposed to sending it straight to your home. We also know that this person must have access to the prison, in order to kidnap Matt Engarde and influence Kristoph Gavin. A visitor is right out, since they would not have enough control. It must therefore be an inmate, a guard, a fellow prosecutor or a policeman."

He hesitated. Of course, a real prosecutor had to be open for every possibility. But...

Oh, screw it. "Scratch the 'fellow prosecutor' part. It must be an inmate, a guard or a policeman."

That had been unprofessional, but he refused to belive that the killer wannabe was one of his own men. Well, in that case... "They must know quite a bit about police work and investigations. Their plan was gigantic, extremely complicated and yet it would have worked perfectly if it hadn't been for a certain security guard."

"And t-then I'd be..."

Sebastian didn't finish his sentence, just swallowed hard. He glumly stared down at his baton.

That... that was right, actually. In a way, Larry had saved Sebastian's life. But then again, the man was a tornado of coincidence. He could cause catastrophes and usually that was exactly what he did, but every once in a while...

Edgeworth couldn't help but smile. A smile which vanished instantly. Concentrate, will you?! Seriously.

Was there anything else? "That plan... it was all set up to make someone else look guilty. And it didn't just create one scapegoat, it created a total of three! This criminal knows what he is doing. This might not be their first crime."

Sebastian had found a tissue and dried his wet eyes. The man always had tissues. "Then... then my delinquet theory might actually hold water!"

Another smile. This time, he allowed it. "It does indeed. However, it might also be a policeman. We shouldn't focus on one theory just yet because..."

 _because something is missing._

He was overlooking something. But what?

"To Debeste, Prosecutor...", he mumbled to himself and the world froze up.

It got colder. It really did get colder, somehow. Edgeworth had no idea how. It was as if Sebastian's sudden silence was powerful enough to block out the sun itself, trapping the hospital and the men inside of it in a void without warmth.

Hang on, this felt familiar...

And then, at that very second, Edgeworth knew what he had overlooked.

The world unfroze as Sebastian hid his face behind his blanket, but Edgeworth didn't notice, didn't care because there it was, the clue he needed...

" _He knows your name!_ "

"W-what?"

Of course. How could he have overlooked this?!

"He adresses you as 'Debeste', not as 'Sebastian'. Which means that this person has met you..."

 _a long time ago, before you ditched that name._

And that meant...

Oh. Oh no.

Thinking about it now, it was obvious. Someone who was in prison, had performed criminal acts before, knew how investigations worked, disliked Sebastian and knew his last name? Surely it couldn't...

He didn't know Mr. Sebastian's adress, but then again, a lot of time had passed. Hadn't Sebastian even moved a few times? So...

It had to be him.

Edgeworth swallowed hard. This was going to cause another swall of tears, was it?  
"I...", he said very, very slowly, "I think I know..."

"W-what?! What do you know?! Y-you..."

"The man who tried to kill you...", all right. Here went nothing, "...is your own father... Blaise Debeste."


	20. Chapter 20

January 05, 01:48 PM

Prison

Visitor's room

#

"Now, now. To what do I owe the honor of this visit? Greetings, Mr. Edgeworth. Franziska, my dear. Long time no see. It gets so lonely in this little cell, y'know? Ah, it makes me want to cry..."

Blaise sniffled and rubbed his eyes. "Ah, and who are these three strangers here? Meeting new people is a pleasure, y'see, but all to often they disappear. Ohh... here I go again, just can't hold the tears back..."

"Stop with the crocodile tears, Blaise Debeste!" _CRACK_! The whip hit the bulletproof glass right in front of Blaise's face. The inmate didn't even wince.

"So? Will I get to hear some names now? I don't like waiting."

"Phoenix Wright. And these are Athena Cykes and Apollo Justice."

The inmate gave a large slasher smile. "Y'see, that wasn't that hard. Now, why are y'all here?"

Sebastian stepped up and Blaise fell silent. Up until now, the young man had been hidden behind Edgeworth. Now he'd come into sight and wordlessy held his father's gaze.

 _ **Surprise.**_ But after a few moments, the prisoner chuckled.

"I see. So you came to reunite the cruel father with his idiot son. What a kindhearted gesture. Now if you excuse me, I'm quite the busy man. If you would please leave..."

"OBJECTION! You're not going anywhere!", yelled Apollo and Athena smashed her fist into her open palm. "Yeah, exactly! We know everything!"

"Everything? Why, I have no clue what you could be talking about, y'know?"

Edgeworth crossed his arms and tapped his elbow with his finger. "Mr. Debeste, we are accusing you of attempted murder. The victim was your own son, Sebastian Debeste. What do you have to say about that?"

"Someone tried to murder my idiot son, really? Oh, there are bad people... look at me sobbing like an old fool... but why accuse me, of all people? I can promise you that I didn't have a hand in any of this."

KA-CHING!

"He's lying", whispered Phoenix. "Psychelocks. Five, red."

"Good job, Wright. Now, let us unearth this man's secret."

The Chief Prosecutor was focussed, concentrating on his opponent. It was a little like he looked during chess games, just more... fierce.

"I have no secrets. I'm just a poor prisoner, y'see? Ah..."

More tears. Blaise wrung out his beard.

"Y'all should really leave now. I'm trying to enjoy the rest of my life over here, y'know?"

"Forget it!" _CRACK_! "You will confess!"

"Heh. Will I now. I think not. But fine, if you insist... amuse me. Explain to me, please, what I have supposedly _done_."

"Hmpf. Where to even start. First of all, you have hired an assassin. Said assassin then kidnapped, blackmailed and poisoned, all in your name. And the goal of it all? Filicide. Do you deny that?"

"But of course I do! Please, be reasonable." Blaise Debeste shrugged in an overly exaggerated way. "How would I, a death row inmate, ever manage to pay an assassin? That's quite expensive, y'know?"

Athena stomped down in anger. "But you didn't pay with money! You tried to pay with the life of another inmate!"

Phoenix nodded in agreement. "The inmate in question being Matt Engarde."

"Hm... Engarde... Engarde... ah, I have no idea who you might be talking about, I fear."

"OBJECTION! Who do you think you are fooling here, you fool?! You were a prosecutor, were you not? The chairman of the P.I.C.! There is no way you could not know of a case as big as that of Matt Engarde!"

Blaise shook his head and raised his hands as if to surrender. "Well, I suppose I might have heard of him once or twice, but I'm an old man, y'see? My memory isn't what it used to be... the struggles of age, I fear. You are all so lucky to be young..."

"Enough of this now! You know of Matt Engarde, I am certain of that!", yelled Franziska, but Blaise just sighed. "No, my dear... I'm afraid I know next to nothing about this Mr. Engarde."

 **Ba-dum.**

Apollo's bracelet tightened.

"Repeat that", he growled and Blaise obeyed, rolling his eyes. "Very well, if I must. I..."

 _...know next to nothing a-b-o-u-t t-h-i-s M-i-s-t-e-r E-n-g-a-r-d-e..._

Eyes, mouth, chest, breathing, hands...

" _GOTCHA!_ "

Everyone winced as the chords of steel rang out and Apollo struck a pose. "Mr. Debeste! When you mentioned Mr. Engarde, your thumb started to twitch!"

"Did it now? What a coincidence. And how, pray tell, is that important?"

Sebastian scoffed. "Thump twitching, huh? Missing that lighter of yours, do you?" It was the first thing he had said and his father refused to even look at him.

"I sure hope you're not trying to say that my thumb twitching proves me guilty, right? My idiot son is correct... for once. It's merely a twitch gained from years without access to the lighters I like to carry. It can hardly be considered proof."

He was right about that, unfortunally. It wasn't proof. And all in all, they had no evidence at all. Their only weapons were bluffing, logic and a bunch of semi-magical special abilities which didn't hold up in court. Great.

"I am just a little bit insulted, y'see? You're telling me that I did all that, put in so much effort... well then I must ask: Where's the result? That idiot is alive and well, isn't he? He hardly looks murdered to me."

Blaise had the nerve to laugh, the rotten beast. But Phoenix was grinning. "One down", he whispered and Edgeworth nodded. "True. He may refuse to admit it, but that twitch made it past his defenses. We are on the right track, we must be."

Franziska tapped her foot, impatiently. "You are wasting our time with your foolish lies, Blaise Debeste. Again, do you honestly think we would be foolish enough to belive that you have missed a case as big as this? I doubt that there is anyone around who has not heard of it by now."

"Us inmates don't get to watch the news, y'see? We don't know much of what happens outside. I fear you must fill me in."

Phoenix sighed. "If you have to know, your poisoning trap missed it's target thanks to an, uh... slightly confused security guard. It hit Mr. Gavin. Uhm, not the former defense attorney. I mean his brother."

The inmate blinked. "You mean Klavier? Oh, he and Sebastian were such close friends. They studied together, y'know? Oh, just thinking of how close they were brings tears to my eyes, really... I was always worried he might disappear one day. Poor man. Did he survive?"

"...Yes. No thanks to you."

"I was trapped in here, wasn't I? Otherwise I would have helped in an instant."

Yeah, sure. As if. But again, nothing to prove him wrong.

"If only de Killer wasn't this... loyal to his clients", whispered Athena. "It would be so much easier then!"

At least Blaise was intelligent enough not to claim that he had never heard of Shelly de Killer. Instead, he sighed. "Was that the assassin in question? I find it hard to belive that someone like him failed."

 _ **Anger.**_

"HOLD IT! You... you are angry that he failed, aren't you!", screeched Athena, loud enough to make her voice break. "You felt a high burst of anger when you mentioned it! His failure must really annoy you!"

"Hm. Why, will you look at that." Edgeworth tapped his forehead and smiled. "Why would you be angry, if I may ask? Surely the survival of your son has highest priority and would therefore cause joy."

The prisoner clasped his hands together and tried to smile sweetly. He failed completely. "But of course it does. He may be an idiot and he may be one of the reasons I'm here, but he's still my son, y'know? That fine young lady must simply be mistaken."

Athena growled. "I'm NOT mistaken and you are still angry!" She seemed like she was about to snap and Apollo placed one hand on her shoulder to hold her back.

"I am not angry. And even if... that hardly proves anything does it?"

He sighed and shook his head as he wiped his tears yet again.  
"Now, the way I see it... you can say whatever you want, as long as you don't have any evidence, it hardly matters. And? Do you have evidence?"

Oh darn it. He'd realized...

None of them found an answer. Athena and Apollo both knew that their abilities, useful as they were, didn't count as evidence. Phoenix was grinning his typical nervous grin, trying and failing to come up with - no doubt - a bluff. Franziska tugged on her whip, her mind a ticking timebomb which would cause a storm of pain for anyone foolish enough to set her off. Sebastian stayed silent, bending his baton. Edgeworth showed no emotions... but to those who knew him, it was clear that he was at his wit's end. They were stuck. And Blaise knew it, the god-damned jerk.

"Heh. Like I thought... you don't have a shred of evidence to support your wild claims. Now, like I said, I am a very busy man. If you apologize..."

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, PAL!"

With a lound CRASH, the door was thrown open and there stood detective Gumshoe, panting heavily but smiling broadly. In his hands, he was holding a slightly crumpled piece of paper.

"Detective", stated Edgeworth, brow raised. "I told you to be here at 1:40. You are late. Will you state a reason or would you like to just take the salary cut?"

Gumshoe paled for a second, then brightened up. "No need for that, Sir! I... well, I got your call, of course, but then I thought, you know... I had a hunch, Sir! And thus..."

He proudly held up the paper and saluted.

"...I went to the police department and told Ms. Skye to compare the signature on the execution order to that of Mr. Debeste here! And guess what?! It matches perfectly, Sir! That order was signed - or rather, _forged_ \- by him! There's no doubt about that."

There was silence, safe for Edgeworth's soft chuckle. "Well, so much for 'no evidence'. Care to tell us why you attempted to have Kristoph Gavin executed ahead of time?"

Blaise swallowed hard. He was sweating ever so slightly. "Y'all just have to get in my way, do you?"

"Yep! And now give us the real deal. We want an answer, now!"

The inmate bit his lip. "Fine. If you have to know, that guy was being a pest to everyone here. I was doing this prison a favour, that was all. I wanted to get rid of him. What will you do, sentence me to death? That already happened, y'see?"

"That's a rotten lie and you know it!", yelled Athena and Apollo joined her with a "Exactly!". Athena smashed her hand against her palm and added, brows furrowed and teeth bared: "We visited him just recently! He's in no shape to be a pest towards anyone! If anything, he looked like he was the one being at the receiving end of a pest. And I bet that the pest in question is you!"

She glared at him and Blaise refused to meet her eyes. Next to them, Edgeworth and Phoenix exchanged a look.

"Three down now. Same for you?"

"Indeed. That leaves two more. Want to tackle them together, partner?"

"You can bet on that."

Phoenix pointed dramatically, opened his mouth and failed to find anything to say. "Uhm..."

Nex to him, Edgeworth shook his head. "Wright, please... oh, forget it. Blaise Debeste, I think that every man and woman in this room knows that Kristoph Gavin is no danger to anyone as of now... including you. So I want to hear the truth now."

"...Fine. I did forge that. Why? Well, I am a killer, y'see? It's just in my blood, sad as it is. It's such a shame..." More fake sobbing. Gumshoe glared at him.

"Look, pal, I know I'm not the most logical guy around, but even I can figure this one out. You were scared he'd spill the beans about you making him contact de Killer! Right, pal?!"

"Maybe. Maybe not. Who knows. Y'know?"

 _CRACK_! "Stop this foolishness! If you have no arguments left..."

"I'll be frank with you, yeah? Sad as it is..."

Blaise shrugged. "It's true. I haven't. But neither do you, you see? I'll say it again. I tried to get Kristoph executed because I am an awful human being. If you refuse to belive that, prove me wrong."

"We don't need to do that... _pops_."

Sebastian had spoken for the second time, stood there staring at his father with an iron glare. There was no sound, no sound but the soft cracking as he bend his baton too far. It broke in half and he just dropped the pieces to the ground. There was another sound as he made a step forward, crushing the pitiful remains of it under his heel.

"It doesn't matter if we can't prove it. The end result is the same. We all know you did it. And we know you failed. Yeah, you failed... dad. I'm alive. And I'm better than ever. Do you see this jacket?"

He spread his arms to offer a perfect view of his bright red jacket.

"It's a prize at the Themis Legal Academy. You need to be the highest scoring person in your class to get it. But you know that, don't you? Because you _bribed_ my teachers into giving it to me!"

Blaise rolled his eyes. His thumb was twitching again, flicking an invisible lighter on and off.

"Oh, please. I was just trying to help my idiot son, y'see? I couldn't just watch you fail over and over again. We both know that you are an idiot... don't we?"

No tears. Not a single tear. Sebastian just... nodded. "Yes. I was an idiot. I admit that. And you? Know it. _But what you don't know..._ is that I retook the course and I won this jacket _again_ and this time I _earned_ it."

He put his hands on his hips. "You get that?! People actually to come meet me. They come to see Mr. Sebastian for all kinds of cases. And I've **won** all kinds of cases. And unlike _certain other people_ I only ever got the guilty ones declared guilty!"

It was directed at Blaise, of course it was. But still, both Edgeworth and Franziska lowered their gaze upon hearing it. Neither Sebastian nor Blaise noticed it.

"Hmpf. Mr. Sebastian? So you ditched your last name, too? That is so depressing. I might just cry..."

"Then do that. I, for one, won't cry a single tear for you! _That much I promise._ "

And with those words, Sebastian turned around to leave.

"S-sir, wait! Don't you want to know how... how this turns out?"

"Who cares?" And with those words, he disappeared, slamming the door shut behind him.

When they turned around to face Blaise again, the man was shivering.

"T-that... idiot... how dare he... his own father..." He glanced up and growled in Edgeworth's direction.

"Is that... true?! Did he get that jacket?"

"Yes. Along with a trophy for winning the yearly mock trial. You see, Mr. Debeste... the apple fell far from the tree for once. And while I can, of course, speak solely for myself, I don't think that there is anyone who considers that to be a bad thing. Or does anyone beg to differ?"

Apollo shook his head vehemently. "Nah, he's fine! Great to talk to, too! And great in court!"

"I haven't known him for that long. But his heart is in the right place. Trust me, I know!", said Athena and spun around to pose.

"It's always nice to see a prosecutor who works hand in hand with the defense. And he's good at it, too. Any chance you can tutor one of my two guys here for a while, Edgeworth?"

"Forget it, Wright. But I must agree. He has grown a lot. He is not flawless, of course, but I'm quite proud of what he's become."

Franziska hit the wall. _CRACK_! "I was quite surprised to find him so... different. Last time I saw him, he was still, well... _yours,_ Blaise Debeste. To see him work so hard..."

"Yeah, pal, he even took over for Mr. Gavin and Mr. Edgeworth. He worked till he dropped from exhaustion, pal! That's some spirit right there!"

After Gumshoe finished, there was silence. And then Blaise screamed.

"WHAT... HOW... I... HOW DID THAT IDIOT EVER... ALL OF YOU ARE IDIOTS!"

He panted, falling to his knees. There were tears again and this time they were _real_.

"That... I put so much effort... into this?! That idiot is supposed to be _dead_..."

The very next second, he clasped his hands over his mouth in shock and grimaced. Edgeworth chuckled.

"Hm. May we consider that to be... a confession?"

Blaise didn't respond.

Then, after a while, he sighed.

And nodded.


	21. Chapter 21

All right, Ladies and Gentlemen and of course, everyone in between and beyond those concepts! This... hate to say it... it the last chapter. Oh, but it's like, three times as long as the normal ones, so technically it's the three last chapters.

I want to thank all of you so very, VERY much for reading this. It's been my first attempt at uploading a fanfiction in several years and I was completely overwhelmed by the reactions I got. In fact, I might even write a sequel to this eventually, although that will take a little time.

Oh, and for all the people who can't speak german (or didn't want to put it through Google Translate), here's the translation of those mysterious german lyrics Klavier wrote.

 _Sadness, break my heart in half_

 _hard as stone, heavy as lead_

 _only death can cure everything_

 _and life passes by_

 _Brother, Brother_

 _These days_

 _fate will catch up to us_

 _split us into life and death_

 _only the gallows with it's ropes_

 _will set our souls free._

 _Brother, let's hold hands_

 _through the bars of your world_

 _stay with me when your life_

 _falls through the door of the gallows_

 _Brother, Brother,_

 _These days_

 _let me see your tears_

 _hold me and let's go_

 _into the light of the next life..._

 _No, you will not die alone._

#

#

#

#

January 05, 03:14 PM

Prison

Cell No. 1467

#

 _CRACK_!

Blaise Debeste screamed in pain as the whip connected with his skin, leaving a deep, red mark. "Y-you..."

"Silence, FOOL!" _CRACK_! And another hit. Franziska was not holding back in the slightest. "If you value your skin, then follow orders!"

"I..." _CRACK_! "AAAUGH!"

"I told you to be silent!"

Blaise opened his mouth yet again, but didn't say anything. Probably because Franziska had raised her whip as soon as he'd moved. But she didn't hit him. Instead, a smile flashed over her face.

"By the way... has anybody told you yet?"

"Told me _what_?!", growled the man, anger in his eyes. Franziska's smile grew.

"Oh, so the answer is no. How utterly delightful. Well, I assume it is my duty then..."

She sat down at his side and leaned back. "After Mr. Sebastian left this place, he went straight to the warden. Why? Because, as far as he is concerned, you have been jailed long enough. It's time to get you out."

A grin formed on Blaise's lips. "Y'see? That idiot is..."

"Out and straight to the gallows, of course."

Blaise went pale and Franziska grabbed his collar, pulled him up to her face and snarled: "Yes, he went and sped up your death sentence, you worthless fool. You're going to hang in a week, at the exact same day you wanted to have Kristoph Gavin hanged. You got that? DID YOU GET THAT?!"

He struggled against her grip, but it was futile and she just kept talking. "You... fathers like you _disgust_ me. People like you disgust me!" _CRACK_! " _But no one needs you anymore!_ You plan's been _foiled_ , your son's grown _up_ and next week he'll be there to watch you _die_ , just to make sure you are _really dead_!" She was panting now. "And you will die not as a legendary prosecutor, not as a great, famous man. You will die as a pathetic heap of lost dreams who was so broken and so bitter that he tried to murder his own son. Although there is one problem with this. Do you know which one, fool?"

No answer. She chuckled.

"The problem, Blaise Debeste, is that I'm not allowed to whip you to death, no matter how much I want to. But... I suppose I can control myself." _CRACK_! "Maybe."

She would have to. For Sebastian's sake.

#

January 05, 03:32 PM

Prosecutor Building

Blackquill's office

#

"I am surprised that you are not crying, Sebastian-dono."

But that was a lie, Simon wasn't surprised. He'd expected it. But he couldn't let Sebastian see that.

The other prosecutor sat, knees to his chest, in Blackquill's office. He wasn't really paying attention to Simon, instead focussing on the katanas decorating the wall, fiddling with his fingers due to lack of a baton. Taka was perched on his shoulder. Somehow, Sebastian had managed to gain the bird's trust and now the wild hawk was acting like a tame canary whenever the young prosecutor came along. Simon didn't mind. It meant that he was no longer the only one protesting whenever someone - another prosecutor, the judge, the janitor - complained about the "wild animal". And that, he reckoned, was good enough.

Sebastian sighed. "I... I'm not going to cry. He doesn't deserve that."

Ah, so that's what it was? Understandable. But still not very healthy. "Sebastian-dono..."

"Hm?"

"Aren't you being controlled by him still?"

A sharp wince. Taka screeched in shock and flew up, landing on a stack of papers in the corner. Sebastian stared up at Simon with wide-open eyes. "Y-you... how can you... I'm... I'm not beind c-corroded by him anymore..."

Simon shook his head. "Controlled, Sebastian-dono. Although one could say that he corroded your mind, too." He laughed darkly, then frowned. "But that is not important. What is important is that he is definitely controlling you. And if you don't fight him now, he will continue controlling you from beyond the grave."

There was fear in the air, he could smell it. "But he isn't..."

"Silence. Listen closely now."

And Simon knelt down so he could be eye to eye with the other man.

"Even now, you are doing things for his sake, in his name. You want to cry, don't you?"

A moment of shock. "NO! He... he doesn't deserve it! He..."

"Stop thinking about him and do what you want! No one cares about what he does or does not deserve. If you wish to cry, forget about that rotten father of yours and do it!"

For a second, nothing happened. And then Sebastian started to sob.

Those weren't his usual tears. Those tears were bigger, stronger and much more blobby and ugly. But they carried the scent of freedom. They resembled... the ones he himself had shed when he'd set foot in his home after those seven years...

No sentimentalies now! This was about Sebastian!

But the boy looked well enough. He was sobbing still, but he didn't really look sad. "Simon... you know the... _the best thing_ about all this?"

"Hm?" Wait, had he just said 'the be...

"The b- _best_ thing is how his entire plan failed because of... of a single security guard. I... I just can't..."

And slowly, his sobbing turned to laughter.

#

January 05, 03:43 PM

Prosecutor Building

Security Room

#

Larry leaned back in his chair and eyed the security cameras. Nothing unusual, really. Everyone was doing what they were supposed to do - Edgey was enjoying his seventeenth cup of tea, Klavier was ignoring his paperwork in favour of playing air guitar, Franzy was being perfectly perfect while reading a law book, those two weird janitor guys were arguing about something, Sebastian was sobbing in Blackquill's office, Blackquill was comforting him, the weird hooded figure with the pistol in office 0402 was rummaging through the secret safe. Nothing to worry about. He took a sip of his coke and sighed.

Six more hours to go until... until what? Until he could return to an empty apartment and draw people he saw on TV. Great.

And he was all alone today. Double great.

Nothing to do, really. Just hour after hour of boredom and...

"Oh... Larry, are you here...?"

Sweetest voice ever! That was...

"Hey, Melicia! What'ya doing here? Are you healthy again?"

She smiled. "Yes, almost. I... am here to thank you for this."

And she held up a painting, showing her at her desk. "That was from you, right?"

He grinned. "Sure was! And I drew it just for you!"

"I... have to apologize, Larry." And she looked down at her small feet. "I... thought you were just some weird loner. I didn't know you could paint. It's really beautiful."

Larry ran a hand through his hair and gave her his widest grin. "That's because the model was beautiful, too! But yeah, I paint all the time. I even made a book!"

"You... wrote a book? I never expected..."

"It's called Franzy's Whippidy Whip Trip. You should read it, I'll even sign it for you."

And she almost dropped the painting. "T-that... no way. You wrote that?! My niece loves that book! Oh please, you have to sign her copy of it!"

A shrug. "Sure, no problem. You know, I wanted to write a sequel, too. Kay Faraday's Highly Priced Heist! Aw, but the girl I wanted for it refused to model for me."

"I can't understand that at all..." Another soft smile. "Sorry, Larry. I have to leave now. I need to go fetch my medicine. But... maybe once you're done here, we could... have some coffee together? I'll bring the book for you to sign..."

"Sure thing, Melicia-sweetie!" His heart was beating. Finally, his sweet lil' Melicia paid him some attention... positive attention, too! Jackpot!

And she waved to him before she left! Best. Day. Ever.

Six more hours to go until... yes, until he'd have a cup of coffee with the cutest girl in town and maybe she'd model for him, too! Perhaps he'd even make her part of his next book, whatever it was going to be about. Yeah man!

He couldn't wait to tell Edgey and Nick about this.

#

January 05, 03:46 PM

Cemetery

Southern entrance

#

Phoenix brushed his fingers over the hard stone.

No one had taken care of this place. There were no flowers, other than a few wild dandelions. However, there was no lack of thistles and nettles. It was a sobering sight. He had managed to tear out a few of them, but that hardly made the grave prettier.

Godot deserved something better than this. Maybe he'd call in Trucy and get some flowers planted here. All colors except red on white. And maybe some catnip for the kittens.

And then there was the matter of the cup he was holding. Back when he had first learned of Diego's death, the thought hadn't really been serious, but now...

The blackest, darkest coffee he had found. He'd tried it earlier, but _oh god_ was it bitter. Just how Diego liked it.

"Good evening, Mr. Wright."

He winced in shock and almost spilled the coffee. Upon turning around, his gaze met that of Katherine Halls, holding a large mug. She waved her fan at him.

There was no prison uniform, he noticed. She wore a long green dress now, with a belt of roses. It made her look younger, much younger. Much happier.

"I went to your agency first, but a young lady told me you had left to visit a dead friend. I knew where to find you instantly."

"Yes, I... felt like I had to come here." He shrugged. "So, your sentence is..."

"Over now. I had two more month to go originally, but they let me go early... for helping the law."

She sat down at his side, long hair brushing over the ground. "This grave is a mess."

"It is. I'll take my daughter and plant some flowers here."

"Really? In that case, it would be a pleasure to help."

He looked at her. "No red roses."

Katherine gave a nod. "How about yellow ones, then?"

"Yellow is fine. Uh... why are you carrying a mug around, by the way?"

Holding the cup out, she answered: "I could ask you the same. Want a sip?"

And as he took one, he knew what it was for. "We had the same idea."

"We did. This is the caramel coffee I used to make for him."

Phoenix licked his lips. "It's really sweet. This right here is just black coffee. But it was pretty expensive."

She nodded again. "Want to pour it together?"

And so they did. The dry ground swallowed the liquid up, leaving only wet dirt behind. Phoenix sighed and got up.

"It's pretty ridiculous, really, but it felt right."

"Yes... yes, it did. Mr. Wright?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"I... I'd like to hear some things about him. And generally, about people. I realized just recently that there are a few very important people in my life who I know nothing about and I was hoping... well..." She sighed. "There is Godot, Gumshoe, Edgeworth, Kay..."

"Well, I can tell you a few things about some of these. I don't know that much about Kay..."

#

January 05, 03:49 PM

Hospital

Room 7

#

"Pst! Hey, MaskDeMasque!"

Ron Delite winced and instantly regretted it. It had hurt!

He was still in the hospital and his wounds still hurt badly, especially when he moved. At the very least he wasn't going to _die_...

He knew that voice. It was...

"Even in the depths of night, when no other bird dares to take flight, one alone soars to shine the light of righteousness on the world's blight! And that one is me. For I am the Great Thief Yatagarasu!"

A small shadow fell from the ceiling and landed next to him, almost knocking the nightstand over. Kay grinned up at him. "Hi, Mr. Delite. How are you doing?"

He blinked. "Uh... K-kay? Well... I'm fine... I mean, I'm in the hospital so I'm prob _ably not really fine but..._ "

"Great! That assassin did a real number on you, so I was a little worried. But it's great to see you're okay. Sorry I didn't visit you earlier... the doctors didn't allow it. So I snuck in instead!"

She looked insanely proud about that. Ron shook his head. "You... probably shouldn't do that..."

"Nah, don't worry, Mr. Edgeworth's gonna bail me out if I get in trouble. Say, hang on a sec."

She reached over her shoulder and took of the backpack she was wearing. Carefully, she opened it and took out a small laptop. For a few seconds, she was busy tipping around. Then she spun it around, showing it's screen to Ron.

"Say hi to your wive, will you?"

Desirée gave him a wave from the screen: "Hey, Ronnie! How are you doing?"

"Dessie..." That was all he could say and his wife laughed. "Hey, no need to be so nervous, Ronnie. I just wanted to tell you that the guy who wanted to buy the 'Golden Girl' showed up. I sold it, like we decided. So no worries about that."

"Thank you, Dessie. That really means a lot to me."

"Heh, you're welcome. Oh, and I also didn't want to miss your answer."

Answer? Answer to... "Tell him, will you, Kay?"

The thief flashed a peace sign at no one in particular. "Sure thing! So, Mr. Delite..."

She looked almost serious now. This was going to be important, was it?

"You probably didn't know this, but the Yatagarasu used to be three peope... a detective, a defense attorney and a prosecutor who wanted to steal the truth together. When I found out about that, I wanted to find a group of my own. But, you see... I already had connections to a detective, a prosecutor and a defense attorney... Gummy, Mr. Edgeworth and Mr. Shields. So I wanted to find a group of cute girls, like me. But it's kinda hard to find cute girls who are also thieves."

"Uh... s-so?"

"Well, I sat down and thought... what does a thief need to have? Skill, of course. And sneakiness. And a ton of courage and bravery. Well... you have the skill and the sneakiness down. I wasn't sure about the courage part at first... but you ran head first into an assassin to safe me, so..."

She looked down at the laptop on the ground. "I... kinda wanted to ask if you wanna be a part of my team. You know, when my plan needs two people and stuff like that."

No, this was a terrible idea. He'd been out with this girl once and he'd almost been killed. Stuff like that was way beyond his level, he was a thief and no policeman, he...

...he met his wife's eyes, eager and filled with the wish for action and he knew the answer.

"I would be honored to join the Great Thief Yatagarasu."

"I knew it! I knew you couldn't resist, Ronnie!"

And Kay punched the sky in glee: "GREAT! Welcome in my team! All right, I'll give you a buttload of information to start you of!"

She clapped. "Get yourself pen and paper, this is important! So, first of all, if you ever get involved with the police, ask for Detective Gumshoe..."

#

January 05, 03:51 PM

Police Department

Archive

#

"Alright, we got it! Thanks a bunch, pal!"

"No problem at all, Detective. I don't mind filing a few things. Besides, my computer is updating, so I don't have anything to do right now." Ema leaned back and admired the shelf they had just stocked together. "That's a lot of files."

"Sure is, pal. Mr. Gavin had me bring in all the files which were still at his brother's office."

The forensic expert scoffed. "That sounds like the fop. Making others work for him. Anything else I can help you with? That update is going to take forever."

Gumshoe took a look around, then shrugged. "Not really. Guess you could stand by and watch me clean my desk."

"Hm. Fine, why not. At least that way I have someone to talk to. Things do get boring on your own."

"Yeah, you're right about that. I... huh? Hey, what's that?"

There was an envelope on the Detective's desk. Gumshoe picked up and glared at it in confusion. "What the heck's this about? It's from Mr. Edgeworth..."

"From Mr. Edgeworth? It's got do be important then. Open it up!"

Gumshoe tried, but in the end, it was less "open up" and more "tear apart". Still, after a short struggle, he held a piece of paper in his large hands.

"Okay, let's see. Detective Dick Gumshoe, due to the part you have played it... nanana... duty of a detective... _expertly fulfilled..._ _ **RAISE YOUR SALARY**_?!"

A sharp noise sounded as Ema threw a cup on the floor, grabbing over the table with no regard for the items on it in order to pull the letter from Gumshoe's grip. She read it hastily, sucking in the air as she finished. "That... no way. This _is_ a pay raise! He raised your salary!"

Gumshoe grabbed the letter back from her, crumpling it up in the progress. He didn't seem to care.

"Is... is that even legal, pal? Can he do that?!"

"Well... yeah, of course he can... I... you..." After a moment of gesticulating, she gave up. Gumshoe had fallen silent.

"Hey... maybe if I safe up a little, I can invite Maggey over for dinner! It's been a pretty long time since I did that."

Of course. Any other man would have safed the hard-earned cash, but not Gumshoe. Gumshoe would have spend his last dollar for someone else. In fact, he had already reached for his phone to call Maggey. And only now did Ema notice the small engagement ring wrapped around his finger...

She wanted to comment on it, but was interrupted by a loud "Bing" from her own office.

"Oh, hey, looks like my update's done. See you, Detective. I need to update the profiles of the people involved in that poisoning case now. You... have fun with that pay raise of yours, yeah?"

"You bet I will, pal! You have fun updating profiles!"

"Yeah, sure. Nothing better than updating the data of a few law students."

#

January 05, 03:57 PM

Themis Legal Academy

Schoolyard

#

"Sss, sss, sss. Now this is an article worth writing down." Somewhere beneath her box, Myriam Scuttlebutt laughed. There was the sound of tipping as she wrote the last few words, then a satisfying clack. "There. Title story's done. Thanks to you, Apollo."

The defense attorney shrugged. "No problem, really. I guess you were right, the students here want to know what's going on in the legal world."

Juniper tugged on her sunflower. "Mr. Sebastian went to this school too, you know? That was back when the prosecutors still wore blue and the defense attorneys wore red."

"Well, I for one would have prefered if they hadn't changed it. I look D-A-S-H-I-N-G in blue. RIGHT, MAN?!"

A small vase shattered as Robin threw it against the nearest wall. She looked at it in surprise for a second, then got up to pick up the shards. "Hey, cool! Tesserae!"

Apollo watched as she scooped up the pieces one by one and placed them in a plastic bag she'd pulled from her pocket. "You're going to make a mosaic from that?"

"Sure, man, that's what I do with all my broken pottery! Say, how much longer is Hugh going to take?"

"Sss, sss. The prosecutor course is writing a test today. They might take a little longer to end class."

"Oh... yes, he did mention something like that... I hope he did well. He studied like crazy, but, you know, what with being kidnapped and all..." _Cough_. Juniper sniffed.

"Don't worry, there he is." Apollo pointed at the door, where Hugh O'Conner had just almost dropped his bow. When he noticed the small group of people, he waved and quickly came over. "Ah, good day, Apollo."

"Hey, Hugh. How are you?"

"Yeah, man! How did the T-E-S-T go?"

"Hmpf. I did perfectly, like a genius should."

Hugh flipped his hair back and grinned. For about two seconds. Then the facade broke and he glanced aside, avoiding eye contact. "Well... question six was a little difficult. I just don't understand that part in chapter nine, where during civil cases, the judge can at any given time..."

"Oh! Oh, Hugh, you should have said something, I can help you out with that..."

"Y-you don't need to... you... ah... thank you, Juniper." Hugh blushed and sat down next to them, keeping his bow close to his chest.

"And, uh... other than that?", asked Apollo and felt somehow bad about it. Hugh didn't seem to understand the question. "What do you mean?"

"Sss. He wants to know how you feel after getting kidnapped." If a lack of diplomacy had been money, Myriam would have been the richest girl on earth.

"Oh... that." And now Hugh's mood was ruined. If only he hadn't brought that up...

"Hugh... de Killer's in prison, okay? And he's not the kind of man who takes revenge for stuff like that. You're going to be fine. Okay? You are fine."

"I... I know. But I would... prefer to talk about something different."

Robin nodded. "No problem. So, other than the test, how's learning going?"

And as Hugh launched into a speech about his own genius once more, Apollo noticed how tightly he was clutching his bow.

He was scared still. But soon enough, that fear would fade, he was sure of that. Shelly de Killer had been jailed and there was no way he would get out alive, not with all the guards surrounding him.

So why did Apollo feel uneasy...?

#

January 05, 04:09 PM

Prison

Death row

#

Shoes on the cold floor, the only sound in this empty floor. They had yet to notice anything and by the time they would finally realize what he had done, he would be long gone.

It had been a stroke of luck, in a way. He had done as he had been told and the failure could not be considered to be his fault. Therefore, their contract had been fulfilled. And as a result of it all, he had been thrown into prison. How utterly kind of them to take him here.

Shelly de Killer smiled.

He hadn't killed the young guard, since there had been no reason for it. He had merely knocked him out and stolen his uniform. Now he was roaming the lower levels of this wretched place, searching for a very specific cell.

Where was it now...

Hands wrapped around a knife. It had been ridiculously easy to get a knife in here... these guards should be brought to court, really. He could have taken a gun instead, that would have been equally easy, but there had to be something said for the good old knife. Besides, guns were nice if one wanted to perform a quick, clean kill. But if one wanted the _opposite_...

This wasn't going to be over quick. He'd make sure of that. Twenty, thirty minutes alive and screaming, that was the bare minimum, wasn't it? He'd waited a long time for this. He deserved a treat.

Familiar faces on all sides. Most of them ignored him, some threw insults at his head. Wouldn't they be horrified once they realized that they had directed these slurs not at a mere guard, but at a feared assassin? The thought alone made him chuckle.

Soon now. Just a little further in, then...

There, one of the last few cells. There he was, leaning against the wall, a cocky grin on his face.

Shelly unlocked the door and the inmate looked over at him as he stepped inside.

"Hey, dude, whatcha doing here? Are you doing a dare? Because I'm not in the mood to be bothered... right... _**no**_!"

The assassin smiled at his victim, taking of his hat as he turned around.

"Good evening, Mr. Engarde. I trust you've been well?"

And as the first of many screams rang out, Shelly made a mental note to thank the young lady who had read his emotions and send him here. She deserved his gratitude.

#

January 05, 04:25 PM

Prison

Visitor's room

#

Here she was, visiting prison yet again. The same procedure, the same processes. The same words, things, actions, people. She'd visited this place more often than the courtroom!

But there was something she wanted to know, something she had to know. She had to know if she had been right, in that short second... or if it had been imagination.

She wasn't even sure if she wanted to know. The thought of having been wrong was painful. But at the same time, she knew that this was important. Important for all of them.

"Ms. Cykes? You may enter the visitor's room now.

This time, Kristoph Gavin was already waiting when she entered the room. Not that it changed anything, mind you. He was just as apathetic and indifferent as last time. There was nothing, absolutely nothing, to suggest that he had noticed her. And there was that emptyness again. The emptyness of a broken mind.

Alright, then. Time to test herself. With one hand, she brought up the Mood Matrix, just to ensure she wouldn't miss a thing, then she cleared her throat and whispered: "Mr. Gavin!"

It felt weird, to say that to someone who wasn't Klavier. But there was no reaction, no movement at all. His emotions stayed silent. She took a deep breath and tried again.

"Mr. Gavin..." Okay. Here went nothing. "Mr. Gavin, your brother isn't hurt. And he doesn't hate you."

Nothing happened. Perhaps she'd been too quiet, or perhaps she'd really just been mistaken earlier when

 _ **Surprise**_

Her heart stopped.

It hadn't been her imagination, not this time. For the quarter of a second, there had been an emotion, a sign of humanity. She quickly leaned in closer and continued, with a hushed voice: "It's true, Mr. Gavin. You didn't kill your brother. And he's not angry at you, he knows that you didn't want to hurt him. He's... he's glad you are all right. He was worried about you too, you know? He still cares. For you. He cares for you."

...

...

...

...

 _ **Happiness...**_

It was brief, it was weak. But it was _there_.

Athena placed one hand on the glass. Kristoph had raised his head, was now actually looking at her. Okay... more like looking _through_ her, but still. Maybe, if she told Klavier about this, it would make him feel a little bit be...

Wait. Wait.

Klavier... feeling... oh god, no, she...

 _...she had forgotten about the damn lyrics sheet again!_

Okay. Stay calm. Mr. Edgeworth had those lyrics too, right? And he could speak German. Surely he would adress the issue...

...right?

#

January 05, 04:28 PM

Prosecutor's Building

High Prosecutor's office

#

"Would you like some tea, Mr. Gavin?"

"Ach, if you are offering. Thank you, Herr Edgeworth."

The chief prosecutor poured two cups of tea and sat down at his desk, hands folded. "Now, Mr. Gavin. How are you feeling?"

"What are you talking about, Herr Edgeworth? I'm fine, if I may quote my dear Herr Forehead."

"Hm."

He didn't say anything else and sure enough, eventually Klavier continued to speak on his own. "Although, I have gotten news from the hospital. They say that I need to get my lungs examined."

"Hm. And other than that you are, as you say, fine?"

"Ja, completely."

Silence. After a while, Edgeworth sighed, got up, turned his back to Mr. Gavin and stared out through the window.

"Mr. Gavin... I am not usually one open with my feelings. However, I belive that right now, openness would be very much appreciated. I want to ask you something."

Behind him, Klavier tilted his head. "Ich höre?"

"Good, because you do need to listen. Tell me, are you familiar with the words 'Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth chooses death?"

There was a muffled noise as Klavier dropped his half-empty tea cup. It hit the carpet and rolled away, spilling it's contents on the floor. Neither of them acknowledged it.

"What... what gave me away?"

Edgeworth shook his head, sadly. "Like I said, I am not open with my feelings. But many years ago, after I had learned the truth about the DL-6 incident, after I had learned that I had unknowingly presented false evidence in the SL-9 incident... I left the courtroom to get my shoes shined."

He stopped there and Mr. Gavin stared at him in utter bewilderment. "You did what exactly?!"

"I got my shoes shined, my hair done. I cleaned my home and my office. I went to the finest restaurant in this city and ordered the most expensive thing on the menu. After that, I went home, put on my best suit, enjoyed a cup of my favourite tea, wrote a note and downed an entire bottle of sleeping pills."

There was a small gasp from Klavier, but Edgeworth ignored it, just kept speaking. "About three hours later, I woke up, groggy and tired. When I realized that I was still alive, I started to panic. I booked a last-minute flight to Germany and just... disappeared. After a month or two, I felt the need to talk to someone, so what did I do? I called someone. Not my sister. Not my best friend. I called Detective Gumshoe, who I wasn't even that close to at that time. Oh, we worked together, but I didn't consider him a friend. Yet I called him, of all people. The reason for it eludes me. What I am trying to say is..."

He took a sip of his tea. "...I know very much what suicidal prosecutors looks like. They look like you, Mr. Gavin. And they write songs about killing themselves."

Cup in hand, he closed his eyes and waited for an answer. A minute passed.

"...I... wasn't actually going to do it", mumbled Klavier, head down, hands in his lap. "I... just thought about, you know... and then I wrote those lyrics. I know they're a little... grim, but I wasn't really going to... it's just a song."

"I see. I hope for your own sake that you are telling the truth. Although I suppose that, seeing how your brother's execution has been postponed, you are feeling better already."

Klavier groaned and buried his face in his hands. "I probably look really stupid, losing my head over a... a _killer_ , but..."

"Mr. von Karma was never cruel to me", said Edgeworth and instantly regretted it. Why had he said that? And now Klavier looked at him, expecting more. "Whatever do you mean now, Herr Edgeworth?"

The chief prosecutor took a deep breath. "Mr. von Karma was never cruel to me", he repeated and added: "He was strict, yes, but never cruel. I learned everything I know from him. He was a horrible person and a terrible prosecutor, but by no means a bad mentor. Can I assume that Kristoph Gavin was not a bad brother, either?"

And Klavier Gavin broke into tears.

Luckily, ever since Sebastian had returned to the office, Edgeworth always kept some tissues at close. He handed one over the the sobbing prosecutor and watched as Klavier came apart.

"I... I just... I couldn't bear to visit him at first, you know? When... when they locked him away I... I didn't want to see him, I... I didn't want to see the... the _monster_ my brother had b-become. And... and when, w-when I finally found the courage to visit h-him a...anyway, it was j-just so... so horrible to see that he _wasn't_ a monster. He was s-still... still the man who'd teached me how to r-ride a bike and who'd b-bought me my first... g-guitar... who helped me with my h-homework... but now he was a _murderer_..."

The rest of his word were lost underneath his sobs, but Edgeworth could hear anyway. He sighed, slowly. "I understand. I know how harsh it must be for you. But you cannot afford to lose yourself over this. For now, I will belive your claim that this song of yours was merely that... a song. But I still want you to pay this place a visit."

He scribbled an adress on a small scrap of paper and pushed it over to Mr. Gavin, who took it without complaining. "This is the adress of a therapist. She has done wonders for both me and Mr. Sebastian and I know for a fact that Mr. Blackquill is planning on visiting her, too. I want you to see her and resolve your issues. Feel free to take a few days off if you think that you need them for your mental health."

"Y-yes... danke..."

Klavier pushed the paper into his pocket and got up to leave. Just before he could open the door, Edgeworth stopped him.

"Oh, and when you visit her... please make sure to adress your habit of sniffing nail polish. It may sound harmless at first, but acetone is poisonous."

Mr. Gavin sighed in defeat. "Nothing get's past you, ja?"

"Exactly. I figure that that is the reason you fainted, correct? And most likely also the cause of your damaged lungs. I don't tolerate drugs, no matter of what kind, so please try to take care of yourself."

The only answer he got was a nod. Then Klavier stepped out and closed the door behind himself. As soon as it was closed, Edgeworth heared the first few notes of a somber melody:

" _Kummer, brich mein Herz entzwei_

 _hart wie Stein, so schwer wie Blei..._ "

And he closed his eyes.

There, right in front of his office, silently singing his sad song in German, was a prosecutor who'd never forged evidence, never instructed a witness, never seen the defense as an enemy to be crushed. In the offices beneath him worked a former convict, twisted as a drill yet straight as an arrow, a tearful man who'd started out so small and had grown so big and a powerful woman who had freed herself from her father's grip to find her own way. And somewhere in the security room was a guard who, no matter how foolish and unlucky he might be, had good intentions and the will to fulfill them.

He looked out of the window. Out there was the Wright Anything Agency, where his closest and most trustworthy friend was raising his subordinates, a man who was as kind as he was loud and a woman who cured the souls of her witnesses as opposed to breaking them.

Between the Agency and the prosecutor's building was the police station. There, a loyal, hardworking detective and a skilled, determined forensic scientist were working day and night to bring criminals to justice.

The sunbeams tickled the horizon, perhaps hitting the Themis Legal Academy. A school filled with future defense attorneys, prosecutors and judges being teached to work together in court, being teached that the end never justified the means.

Even the criminals had joined the side of justice. He'd known of one skilled burglar to call. Now it seemed that he'd found yet another criminal who could be trusted to help in times of need.

And he was here, in his office above the city, a Chief Prosecutor with all the power needed to pursue the truth. He allowed himself a smile as he downed the last few drops of his tea.

Times were rough and there had been setbacks. But all in all, times were getting better.


	22. Not a chapter, just a question

So this is obviously not a new chapter. This is merely a little question. Namely:

Would you read the sequel if it had an OC in it?

I'm asking because I know from experience that OCs can be base-breakers. Some people love them, others won't read any story with an OC in it. If it turns out that most of you belong to the second category, I would stick to the canon characters. As for the OC in question, she's female, british, defense attorney. I hope to hear your option on this soon so I can start with the sequel.


End file.
